By Air

Kazan International Airport is located 26 kilometers from the city centre.It is a hub for Tatarstan Airlines and hosts 11 air companies.Airport is connected with city by bus route 97.There is also the Kazan Borisoglebskoye airfield, home to Kazan Aircraft Production Association, a major aircraft factory.

By Train

Kazan is connected with Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Yoshkar-Ola and Yekaterinburg by railways.Main railway station "Kazan passazhirsky" is located in the city centre and includes main building (built in 1896), commuter trains terminal, ticket office building and some other technical buildings.Station serves 36 intercity trains and more than 8 million passengers per annum.There is a second terminal in the northern part of city, it serves only one intercity train. Reconstruction of the Northern terminal has been frozen.Kazan city has also 19 platforms for commuter trains.

By Bus

There are two bus stations in Kazan — Central and Southern.Bus routes connect Kazan with all districts of Tatarstan, Samara, Ufa, Tolyatti, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, Sterlitamak, Buzuluk, Baki and Aktobe. It is planned to build new stations in the East, West and North districts instead of Central for relieving city centre.

By Road

There are federal highway connections to Moscow and Ufa (E-22), Orenburg (R-239), Ul'yanovsk (R-241) and Igra (R-242).There are also R-175 federal highway and Northern Europe to Western China (in construction) route near the city.There are five bridges across the Kazanka (Qazansu) river in the city, and one bridge connecting Kazan with the opposite bank of the Volga.

Kazan Kremlin, Qolsharif Mosque, Soyembika Tower, Bauman Street, Kazan State University

Kazan Kremlin

is the chief historic citadel of Tatarstan, situated in the city of Kazan. It was built on behest of Ivan the Terrible on the ruins of the former castle of Kazan khans. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000.The Kazan Kremlin includes many old buildings, the oldest of which is the Annunciation Cathedral (1554-62), the only 16th-century Russian church to have six piers and five apses. Like many of Kazan's buildings of the period, it is constructed of local pale sandstone rather than of brick. The renowned Pskov architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shirjay (called Barma) were invited by the Tzar to rebuild Kazan Kremlin in stone.The cathedral bell tower was erected in five tiers at the urging of Ivan the Terrible and was scored to resemble the Ivan the Great Belltower in Moscow, but was pulled down by the Soviets in 1930.

Qolsharif Mosque

located in Kazan Kremlin, was reputed to be -at the time of its construction- the largest mosque in Russia, and in Europe outside of Istanbul.Originally, the mosque was built in the Kazan Kremlin in the 16th century. It was named after Qolşärif who served there. Qolsharif died with his numerous students while defending Kazan from Russian forces in 1552. It is believed that the building featured minarets, both in the form of cupolas and tents. Its design was traditional for Volga Bulgaria, although elements of early Renaissance and Ottoman architecture could have been used as well. In 1552, during the storming of Kazan it was destroyed by Ivan The Terrible.

Soyembika Tower

is probably the most familiar landmark and architectural symbol of Kazan. Once the highest structure of that city's kremlin, it used to be one of the so-called leaning towers. By the early 20th century, its inclination was estimated at 194 cm (76 in). Diverse stabilization methods were used to straighten the tower in the 1930s and 1990s.The tower's construction date is enshrouded in mystery. Several scholars date its construction to the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, when the tiered towers were exceedingly popular in Russia, but others date the tower to the 16th century, probably before 1552.

Bauman Street

The pedestrian zone that stretches between the Kremlin and Tokai Square and the Hotel Tatarstan. This is Kazan's Arbat, with boutiques, souvenir shops and kiosks, cafes, bars, and plenty of opportunities for people-watching. The statuary (such as a bronze carriage) is especially interesting.

Kazan State University

is located in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. It was founded in 1804. The famous Russian mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky was its rector from 1827 until 1846. In 1925, the university was renamed in honour of its most famous alumnus, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin). The current rector is Myakzyum Salakhov.On October 21, 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order that would establish a new Volga Federal University on the basis of Kazan State University.Kazan University is known as "the birthplace of organic chemistry" due to works of Aleksandr Butlerov, Vladimir Markovnikov, Aleksandr Arbuzov, and the birthplace of Electron Spin Resonance due to work of Evgeny Zavoisky.

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