Walking tour round Kazan city

Walking tour round Kazan will start from Bauman street. It is not only a center of the city, it concentrates in itself so called «face» and «soul» of the city. This street was formed at the same time with the city and joined the Kremlin with southern gates.

Now we are near the Bogoyavlenskaya bell tower, where in the times of Kazan khanate the trading quarter was finished.

According to a legend, here in October, 1552 the besiegers blew up a city wall and made a big breach in the wall, having made undermining in the Bulak bank and having put in it flanks with gunpowder. One gap was above to the Kremlin, another here. Therefore two streets were named Prolomnaya – Bolshaya (big) Prolomnaya and Malaya (small) Prolomnaya.

Having passed it we can see the Bogoyavlenskaya church.

The monument to Feodor Shalyapin was established near the church not casually – here newborn Shalyapin was christened.

The high bell tower is well-known for that never worked according to the destination. The foundation of it was laid in the 19th century and as it was the end of the century the bell tower didn’t work according its destination, and then the events of the first revolution, the Second World War have begun. Then the Soviet Rule came. Here were both shops and workshops. During the Post-Soviet period a chamber Shalyapinsky hall was created on the 2 floor of the bell tower. And for many years there was a small exhibition about Shalyapin's creative life, and there was a white grand piano on which Rakhmaninov played (now it is in the museum of history of Kazan State University, and Shalyapin’s room is in the Museum named after M.Gorky now). Fans of music were getting together here every Friday and chamber concerts were also held. Concerts were transferred into Shalyapin hotel.

On the right there is a big building of the bank. It was built during the Post-Soviet time in the beginnings of the 20th century and when the First World War begun it was the timeliest on equipment and reliability. Gold reserve of Russia was brought here. In one of the first soviet detectives «Zolotoy eshelon (golden echelon)» there is a scene where white army soldiers attacked, our security officers removed the gold reserve and forced through a white ring. It was filmed in Kazan.

We go further on Bauman street, and on the right we see the big new building of the Tatar Cuisine House. You can have a dinner here. At the left there are McDonalds and the Tea House.

Further we go to the pyramidion where you can learn the distance from Kazan to other cities.

On the right there is a huge building of the former Publishing House, the absolute sample of constructivism, unique in Kazan. Further before us there is a carriage. In 1767 Catherine the Great arrived to Kazan on galleys, and traveled about the city on the gilt carriage, which is in the National museum now.

It is its stylized copy.

Further we follow by the Kachalov Big Drama Russian Theatre, where in foyer you can see a unique in Russia monument to Vasily Kachalov, who began the creative biography here. This theatre became the basic beginning to all theatres in Kazan. It is 217 years old.

In 1930th years the Prolomnaya street was renamed after Nicolay Bauman– the Volga region German, one of experts of revolutionary social democracy. If you review the signboards in old photos of Kazan, you’ll see that this street was one of the centers of craft manufacture. The enquiry is that the Bolshaya (big) Prolomnaya street was formed as the main business street of the city. Then the goods were brought up along the Bulak, along which numerous landing stages, trading meal houses and barns were located.

In XVIII century Prolomnaya street was straightened and paved with cobble-stone. It was completely burned down during numerous city fires, after what the city authorities made a decision to build only stone houses here. To the middle of XIX century the street completely took a modern form. That form which our restorers tried to recreate, having modernized it a little. The street became free of a municipal transport in 1987.

«Kazan» hotel, once the largest one in the city, occupies the whole block beginning from Chernyshevsky (Gostinodvorskaya) street.

Originally there were four separate houses on it place, constructions of the beginning of XIX century, which were reconstructed for the hotel «Kazanskoye podvorye (Kazan coaching inn)» and shops by architect F.Petondi. In 1887 a rich merchant Pavel Schetinkin bought all these buildings and in five years in 1902 it was reconstructed for building up the best hotel in the city «Kazanskoye podvorye (Kazan coaching inn) – Schetinkin’s rooms». The building was decorated with molding and art forging. A balcony over the entrance is hold up by the atlantes – unique in Kazan. The whole building unites in a single one. It is difficult to list all celebrities who had ever stayed in «Kazanskoye podvorye (Kazan coaching inn)». Even Lev Trotsky, who made a speech about corner balcony of the hotel, was stayed here. Schetinkin’s rooms were included into poem of E.Evtushenko «Kazan University». Unfortunately, time and people made the well-known Kazan house such as we can see it now, and today the building needs a new restoration.

From the theatre we rise upwards and at the left we see a stone fence with a grating, which was made by our architect Corinfsky and who designated a red line of the street. A Peter and Paul Cathedral is situated behind of it. It is a pearl of the beginning of the 18th century.

There is no such a monument of early Russian baroque in Kazan. It was constructed in honor of arrival to Kazan of Peter the Great, who celebrated its 50 anniversary in the house of merchant Mikhlyaev. Having examined the manufacture of Mikhlyaev the cloth factory, and having found it in the excellent condition, Peter the Great gave him the conduction of the whole cloth manufacture in Kazan. Being gratitude Mikhlyaev asked the emperor to construct a cathedral in honor of its heavenly patrons.
We leave a cathedral and go on Kremlyovskaya street, to the Aleksandrovsky Passage, which was constructed in the end of the 19th century.

It was built during 2 years, and last 20 years it is being restored, because of dolines. Further going on Kremlyovskaya we see geographic faculty. Earlier it was a theological school where the priests for the Kazan province were taught. We can understand what the policy of the orthodox government was in general. Tatar language was the main subject in the theological school. The Tatar people apostle Kayum Nasyri, known as the propagandist of Russian language among the Tatars, the founder of literary Tatar language, taught them Tatar language during 10 years. We go towards the Kremlin by Juseppe pizzeria.

There were hotel rooms here, in which Goncharov stayed when he during his travel on frigate Pallada returned to Kazan. Presumably, the Russian writer Korolenko stayed here and has written the story «Ogni (the lights)» («… what ever happens in life, nevertheless there are the lights ahead...»). He came here to act as the defender of Chuvashes when they were accused in killing the Russians for ritual actions.

At the left the Civil Registry Office house begins. Earlier, it was Gostiny Dvor (bazaar) up to the end. It was constructed according to a standard project, as the bazaars in Vladimir, but in a miniature as in Petersburg.

But in due time these dolines phenomena forced to burst a part of the facade building. During the Soviet period the house was taken down and dwelling house which was called Dvoryanskoye Gnezdo (noble nest) because there lived only privileged public, was constructed. Further the Gostiny Dvor (bazaar) had been bought for a museum. Once it was the City museum, it was called the Likhachevsky museum, because the collection of academician Lihachevsky became its fundament. Today it is a National museum of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The walking tour finishes near the Kremlin. And the next excursion is the Kazan Kremlin.