Kazan weekend

Arrival at the airport/railway station and a warm welcome from a local guide speaking your language. Transfer to the hotel and route information on the way.

Check-in.

Departure for a Kazan city tour including a visit to the Kazan Kremlin and other landmarks. Kazan is the capital of Tatrstan Republic, a large port on the bank of Volga river at the place where Kazanka river is flowing into it.  Kazan is one of the largest political, economical, scientific, educational, cultural and sport centrers of Russia. Its unique beauty and style emerged from a mixture of peoples living on its territory. Our program is based upon unity and diversity of the cultures populating the place.

So in three-hour time you’re going to see Old Tatar Sloboda, a Tatar village Tugan Avylym in the city center, the oldest mosque Marjani, Kamal theatre, the mysterious lake Kaban, Kazan Millennium Park, Liberty Square, the Kazan University, Kazanka river embankment, offering unique views of the coast of the Kazan Riviera, Peter and Paul Cathedral, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Kazan.

Then proceed with a walking Kremlin tour and be marvelled by Qol Sharif Mosque that stands as a prominent symbol of the city, rightly recognised as one of Kazan’s most worthy sights as well as Europe’s largest mosque. The Qol Sharif largely functions as a museum although thousands of Muslims do gather here to pray on major religious holidays. The next picturesque Kremlin  sight is 16^th century Annunciation Cathedral,  this is Kazan’s most important cathedral and the home of the holiest copy of Our Lady of Kazan icon, which was presented to the city by Pope John Paul II in 2005. Right here opposite the Annunciation Cathedral there opens a panoramic view of the city and the river embankment.

And the final Kremlin gem of the day is Soyembika Tower. This striking 55 metre high tower with a slight lean is heavily associated with a legend surrounding Princess Soyembika, one of the last great rulers of Kazan.

You can choose hotel drop-off or continue your acquaintance with the city walking along the Kazanka embankment, admire the beauty of the Palace of Agriculturalists, take a bicycle for two or four people and wheel around or have a nice walk to stretch your legs.

Evening at leisure.

Breakfast at the hotel. Meeting with a local guide at the reception.

Departure for an outing to the Sviyazhsk Island located 60 km from Kazan on the spit of the Volga and the Sviyaga rivers.

Beginning of a panoramic tour around the island including visits to the Stable yard, the Assumption Monastery, the Trinity Church, Nativity Square, the Sviyazhsk Museum and others.

You’ll have some free time to walk around and see the historical buildings, handicraft shops, try tea and pies, marvel the Volga view from the high bank of Sviyazhsk.

Hotel drop-off.

Evening at leisure.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Check-out.

In case you have some time to spare, you can walk along Baumana street, that boasts of numerous cathedrals, statues, fountains and other decorations. One of the statues is Catherine the Great's Carriage, which is an exact life-size copy of the carriage given to the city by Catherine and now on display in the National Museum. Another is the Kazan Cat Monument which is inspired by the legend that when visiting Kazan Empress Elizabeth noticed there were few rats or mice in the city, and so she ordered that some cats from Kazan be sent to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to hunt the rats and mice there.

Not far from Baumana street one can find an amusing museum called Soviet Life Museum. It appeared not so long ago when the city authorities allocated a former communal apartment (Russian word ‘kommunalka’) to house the museum; a fitting location for such a museum. The museum now has various exhibits recreating everyday life in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. Special attention is dedicated to Soviet schools, the Soviet army, music of the period (both Soviet and Western), socialist art and propaganda.

Transfer to the airport. You can book a local guide or assistant speaking your language.