Kazan is a city with a thousand-year history and rich culture, the capital of one of the most advanced and hospitable regions of Russia – the Republic of Tatarstan.
Tatarstan has traditionally been among the leading regions of the Russian Federation and is well known outside the country. The region is rich in natural resources. Industry occupies the largest share in its economic structure, including mining, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, etc.
Synthesis of two cultures
Kazan embodies the synthesis of East and West, Islam and Christianity, history and modernity. For many centuries, representatives of different religions and more than 115 nationalities have been living here in the atmosphere of peace and harmony. The most numerous of them are Russians and Tatars. A striking example of the harmonious coexistence of religions is the Kazan Kremlin, on the territory of which the Kul-Sharif mosque and orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation stand nearby.
Sports capital of Russia
Kazan is the sports capital of Russia. The city rightly and proudly bears this title, hosting many international tournaments and being home to a number of titled clubs. Rubin Football Club, Ak Bars Hockey Club, Zenit and Dinamo Volleyball Clubs, UNICS Basketball Club, and Sintez Water Polo Club – their names are known far beyond the country.
The 27th Summer Universiade 2013 gave the city a rich legacy in the form of a wide variety of sports venues and clubs. Thanks to its developed infrastructure, Kazan has hosted major international competitions: the 16th FINA World Championships in 2015, FIFA Confederations Cup matches in 2017, FIFA World Cup RussiaTM matches in 2018. The high quality of Kazan’s hosting of titular international sporting events has been repeatedly appraised by the world sports community.
Over the past decade, Tatarstan has made a huge leap in the development of sports infrastructure. Today Kazan is a city capable of hosting the largest international competitions
Rustam Minnikhanov
Rais (Head) of the Republic of Tatarstan
Over the past decade, Tatarstan has made a huge leap forward in the development of sports infrastructure. Today’s Kazan is a city capable of hosting the largest international competitions.
Today, there are over 2,000 sports facilities in Kazan. In 2020, the largest Uram extreme park in the country with an area of 42,000 sq. m. was commissioned.
The capital of Tatarstan creates conditions for people of different ages and health levels to get involved in sports. Special attention is also paid to the formation of an inclusive culture in society and the development of adaptive sports: in 2023 the city played a host to the United Games by the Special Olympics rules for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Best place to travel
The rich historical legacy and diversity of cultural sites, masterpieces of Tatar cuisine and hospitality of local residents have already attracted more than 3.5 million tourists to Kazan. There are more than 150 accommodation facilities in the city. Kazan’s hospitality capabilities make it possible to hold major international events at a high level.
There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Republic of Tatarstan – the Kazan Kremlin, Great Bolgar, the Assumption Monastery complex on the island-town of Sviyazhsk, and Engelhardt Astronomical Observatory. In 2005, Kazan celebrated a significant date – the 1,000th anniversary of the city, and in 2022 the city of Bolgar hosted celebrations dedicated to the 1,100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgaria.
In 2021, Kazan was officially granted the status of the gastronomic capital of Russia. Restaurants serving Tatar national cuisine are very popular among the guests of the city. Traditional Tatar pastries, noodle soup, chak-chak, and talkysh kaleve (tatar dessert) may hardly leave anyone indifferent.
Transport accessibility of the city contributes to the boost in the tourist traffic. In 2022, Kazan International Airport handled about 4 million passengers. A new passenger terminal is being built to increase the capacity of the airport. In December 2023, the M-12 Vostok highway from Moscow to Kazan was officially opened. The travel time is only six and a half hour.
Cultural life of the city
The cultural life of the thousand-year-old capital of Tatarstan is saturated with a huge number of major world-class fora, including the Fedor Shalyapin International Opera Festival, Rudolf Nureyev Classical Ballet Festival, Kazan Autumn International Opera Festival, Sergey Rakhmaninov White Lilac Festival, Nur International Media Arts Festival, Tat Cult Fest festival of the new Tatar culture, Aksenov Fest literary festival, International Muslim Film Festival, and others. Kazan has 13 theatres, more than 30 museums, private galleries, the Salikh Saydashev State Big Concert Hall and two philharmonics.
Public spaces are being actively developed in the city. Among the most striking examples are the National Library of Tatarstan, a modern creative space with an exhibition hall, a theatre venue and a co-working space, as well as the embankment of Lake Kaban, which has received a number of architectural awards as the best landscape architecture project.
Advanced technology and education
Kazan is one of the largest economic, scientific and educational centres of the country. About 150 thousand students from 124 countries study at the universities of the city.
The 45th WorldSkills Competition held here in 2019 gave a powerful impetus to the development of skilled professions in the country. In the near future, it is planned to build a federal technology centre of the WorldSkills Russia movement in the city.
The Republic demonstrates a good example of development and solution of the problems that are of prime importance. Today Kazan is one of the most dynamically developing cities in the country
Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
The capital of Tatarstan has a rich IT infrastructure. Not far from Kazan there is an entire city of high technologies Innopolis and the university of the same name. In the centre of the capital itself, the San IT district is actively developing, which includes the Idea technology park, digital School 21, Urban and Suvar Plaza business centres, as well as the IT Park built in 2022 named after Bashir Rameev. It houses a conference hall unique by the federal standards and the largest cyber arena in terms of the number of gaming seats. The IT district should become a new hallmark of the republic as a leader in the development of information technologies in the country.
Kazan keeps growing. Restoration of significant cultural and historical sites, construction of new interchanges and metro lines and stations, infrastructural transformations and implementation of the concept of developing the urban public spaces provided the city with an attractive appearance of a flourishing metropolis, which is definitely noted by both Kazan citizens and guests of the city.
