Kazan: overview
Kazan is the "third capital of Russia"! Since 2009, the city has a registered patent for this name. In 2005 Kazan celebrated its millennium. The capital of Tatarstan is a large cultural center of the country, uniting two cultures and two religious directions. Kazan is a multifaceted and contrasting city with an interesting history. Periods of history, different cultures and traditions integrated on its streets, forming a unique architectural ensemble of the ancient Bulgarian, Golden Horde, Khan, Russian and Soviet periods, and you can devote an infinite amount of time to get acquainted with it. Kazan annually hosts international festivals of opera, ballet, classical music and folk-rock music. There are many museums, public and private galleries in the city. The largest one is the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, founded in 1894. The most valuable natural science, archaeological, ethnographic and many other expositions are located in the main building of the museum - the former Gostiny Dvor. There is a branch of the State Hermitage in Kazan - the Hermitage-Kazan Center. In addition, some of the most popular museums in the city are the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Museum of Kazan and many other cultural institutions. The property and sights of the city are its historical buildings, including numerous religious buildings, the main of which are the Kazan Kremlin, the Kul Sharif mosque, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Kazan Monastery of the Mother of God in the Holy Cross Church (the place where a revered list of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is kept), as well as unique historical and architectural complexes of the Zilantyev Monastery. Among the modern architectural sights of Kazan, the pedestrian streets of Peterburgskaya and Bauman, the Kazan metro, the Millennium bridge, the Pyramid cultural and entertainment complex, Millennium and Kyrlay parks, the Riviera hotel and water park complex and the Palace Embankment residential complex on the Palace Square. The first city’s skyscraper with a height of more than 100 meters will be a residential complex "Azure Heaven". Besides, the image of Kazan is inseparably connected with sports. The capital of Tatarstan warmly hosts major international and local competitions such as: the 27th World Summer Universiade 2013, the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and it was one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Today Kazan is a modern and dynamically developing city, taking care of both the preservation of its historical heritage and the development of its advantages. Having visited Kazan once, you will certainly have a desire to come back here again.
Availability of transport hubs
Airport
Railway station
Bus station
Port
Climatic features
Winter
Winters in Kazan are quite cold and snowy: average temperatures for the season are -6 ° C ...- 17 ° C. Usually, severe frosts with blizzards pass the city side, but still there are 30-degree frosts. Sometimes the weather pleases with short-term thaws. The days are often clear, sunny and frosty, but cloudy weather mostly predominates in winter.
Air temperature:
up to -6... -15 °С
Spring
At the end of March, the subzero temperature changes to above zero. In early April, the snow begins to melt slowly, but frosts are still possible at night. The average temperature in April is + 5 ° C ... + 9 ° C. Significantly warmer despite possible rainfall. In May, the sun breaks out of the winter shackles, which is already pleasantly hot at midday, the ground surface warms up, young leaves of trees and the first flowers bloom. The average temperature in May is + 14 ° C ... + 19 ° C.
Air temperature:
up to -8... -20 °С
Summer
Summer in Kazan is hot and rainy at the same time. June is the month of the significant amount of rain in the year, but anyway this fact does not affect the temperature regime. In July and August, afternoon’s temperature in the shade may reach +30 °C … + 35 °C. Such weather sometimes lasts for weeks in Kazan. This is the time of the active swimming season. In August, you can hear the booming sounds of thunder, followed by rain soon after. I would like to draw your attention to the evening time, no matter how hot the day is, the sunset air begins to cool down, and it becomes cold.
Air temperature:
up to +13... +30 °С
Autumn
Autumn comes to Kazan in September. It gets sharply colder + 12 °C ... + 16 °C, and in the evenings light frosts are expected already in the first days of the month. Starting from October, cloudy weather begins to dominate + 4 °C ... + 7 °C. Gloomy sky coupled with falling golden leaves and the first freezing temperatures. Fogs are common in November. One might say that winter is almost here (-1 °C ...- 6 °C). Snow already falls in the middle of the month.
Air temperature:
up to -5... +16 °С
Useful tips
1 What to pack
- The passport
- Money, bank cards
- Booking confirmations
- Phone, camera and chargers for them
- Plug in adapter if not EU type
- Visiting mosques is obligatory in closed shoes and clothes, hats are obligatory for both women and men
- Comfortable clothes for the season
- Umbrella or raincoat
- Sunglasses (summer)
- Good mood
2 Top things to do
- Visit the Kazan Kremlin and the Kul-Sharif Mosque
- Visit the Old Tatar Sloboda
- Take a walk along the Bauman street and the Kremlin embankment
- Visit the Family Center "Kazan"
- Palace of Farmers and Palace Square
- Ride the Ferris wheel "Around the World"
- Visit Ushkova's House (National Library)
- Ekiyat Puppet Theater
- "Tugan avylym" or Native village
- Peter and Paul Cathedral
- Climb the bell tower of the Epiphany Cathedral
- Take a photo at the Temple of All Religions
- Visit the amazing island town of Sviyazhsk
- Drive to the Tatarstan Silicon Valley - Innopolis
- Meet the sunset looking at the Volga river
- Enjoy delicious Tatar cuisine
3 What to bring back home
- Tatar dishes: bowls made of ceramics or porcelain with folk ornaments, pots for roasts, spoons and dishes made of wood with an image of a tulip, the symbol of Tatarstan
- Delicious Tatar sweets: chak-chak, talkysh-keleve, kosh tele
- Meat delicacies: kazylyk, tutyrma, argamak
- Honey
- Tatar cauldron for pilaf
- Mead (honey wine)
- Traditional tincture Timerhan
- Leather socks Huff
- For men - traditional Tatar skullcaps, for women - velvet kalfaks
- Chuvyaki slippers
- Decorations
- Magnets, plates, mugs with Kazan symbols