Kazan: A City of Harmonious Contrasts

11 points4 km1 hour

Get to know Kazan, where an ancient kremlin sits beside modern rebuilds, a mosque beside an Orthodox cathedral, and city legends beside real historical events. The route starts in the heart of the city, the Kazan Kremlin, and leads along touristy Bauman Street to the quiet Black Lake park, Freedom Square and the National Library, ending on the Kremlin Embankment with views of “The Bowl” and the Ferris wheel.

Route author

Alina Rakhmanova

Things to do

👀 Watch city life
🏛️🕰️ Compare the eras
📸 Take photos

Route points (11)

National Library in Kazan

Point on route “Kazan: A City of Harmonious Contrasts”

Point 10

National Library

🏙 Modern architecture

Historical Background

One of Kazan's unofficial symbols is the National Library. It rarely appears on tourist routes, but locals always try to drag their out-of-town friends there to show it off. And there's plenty to show, from the building itself to what's inside. The National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan occupies a building put up in the late 1980s for the Kazan branch of the Central Lenin Museum. After the collapse of the USSR it became the Kazan National Cultural Center, which until recently also housed the Museum of the City of Kazan.

About the Architecture

Clad in Armenian tuff and shaped like a fluttering Soviet banner, the building is one of Kazan's architectural landmarks and an important example of late Soviet architecture. After renovation, panoramic windows were cut into the blank walls of the ground level. The first floor holds the public library's multipurpose areas, including reading rooms for toddlers, children and teenagers, a computer lab and a music room, all open to every visitor. The second floor has the research library's reading rooms, which require a library card. Besides the main library spaces, the building has a conference hall for events, a recording studio and lecture halls.