On a bluff above the Volga lie the ruins of the capital of Volga Bulgaria, where the Tatars' ancestors adopted Islam more than a thousand years ago.
Bolgar was the capital of Volga Bulgaria. In 922 its king received an embassy from the Caliph in Baghdad and adopted Islam, three centuries before Moscow was more than a village.
The Mongols sacked the city, then rebuilt it as a Golden Horde town, and it was later abandoned. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a place of pilgrimage for Tatar Muslims.
On the grassy site stand the stumps of the great mosque, a minaret you can climb and 14th-century mausoleums. A museum of Bulgar civilisation is built into the riverbank.
The gleaming White Mosque, completed in 2012, stands at the edge of the site.
Allow four to five hours on site.
Take the morning hydrofoil from Kazan, or drive three hours south.
Start in the museum of Bulgar civilisation, built into the bank.
Walk the outline of the mosque and climb the minaret for the view.
Stone tombs and chambers of the 14th century.
End at the modern mosque, brilliant against the sky.
Hydrofoils from Kazan's river station run May to September; otherwise drive or take a tour, about three hours each way.
One ticket covers the reserve's museums; buy at the entrance.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
