Culture

The culture of Kazan is many-sided as its multinational structure. The Heritage of the Golden Horde has gone through centuries, traditions of bulgars were mixed with Russian, and as the result of the mutual enrichment intellectual values of the population became rather various. Therefore, speaking about the culture of Kazan, it is necessary to remember its solid age and its headstreams.
Ancient bulgars have managed a high level of cultural developing, having bridged Turkic roots and Arabian influence. This heritage also was the basis for further developing of all Tatar culture. Literature, which traditions were formed by Kul Gali in a poem «Kiyssa Yussuf» in XIII century, and carried on by all great Tatar writers, such as Mahmud Gali, Mukhamedyar, Gabdulla Tukay and Mussa Djalil, was always on a special place in Tatar culture.
Russian culture was widely spread after seizure of Kazan by Ivan Grozny in 1552. Since that time two civilizations, western and eastern, started to cooperate, and the unique culture of nowadays Tatarstan was born. Time spent in Kazan, have influenced on creativity of such well-known figures as Lev Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Fedor Shalyapin. Kazan remembers Alexander Duma and Alexander Pushkin's visit, and the peculiar nature of Tatarstan is captured on canvas of Russian artist Ivan Shishkin.
Modern Kazan is a highly-developed cultural centre. There are 759 monuments of history in Kazan. During the last years monuments to F.Shalyapin, M.Gorky, M.Devyatayev, G.Derzhavin have been constructed. In 2000 the historical-architectural complex «Kazan Kremlin» had entered the list of World Cultural Heritage of UNESCO, which was the great event for Kazan.
Kazan is proud of its cultural activity. International theatrical and musical festivals: the International Opera Festival named after F.Shalyapin, the Festival of classic ballet named after R.Nuriyev, the International Festival of modern chambered music "Europe-Asia", and the International Festival of piano music «Piano forum» are being held every year. In 2001 the International Festival of music of Sofia Gubaydullina was carried out for the first time.
There is a second-large in Russia Concert Hall in Kazan. The State Philharmonic Hall, 7 state theatres, the National library, the National museum and its branches work in Kazan. Besides, the Center of friendship between nations (36 national communities), Palaces and Center of Culture are being operated in Kazan.
National holidays, which have become an essential part of cultural life of Kazan, are special in their speckled national colour. Among them are Sabantuy, Nauruz, Russian Karavon, and universal for all holiday - the Day of Republic, which is held on 30th of August.
In 2005 Kazan celebrated its 1000-year-old anniversary. Among many others, the opening of the Kazan branch of "Hermitage" and the opening of Peterburgskaya pedestrian street, in the beginning of which the bust of well-known historian Lev Gumilev is located, became great events.
The culture of Kazan, though is to some degree a thing «in itself», but has a strong influence on the culture of neighbor regions, and continues to be one of the important resources for Russian culture.