A white-walled fortress on a hill above the Kazanka, where a turquoise-domed mosque and an Orthodox cathedral stand a few steps apart.
The khans of Kazan ruled from this hill until Ivan the Terrible took the city in 1552. His masons from Pskov then rebuilt the citadel in white stone on the ruins.
The Kremlin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the seat of Tatarstan's president. Its grounds are free and open day and night through the Spasskaya Tower.
At its heart is Kul Sharif, completed in 2005, with turquoise domes and four 57-metre minarets. It is named after the imam who died defending the city in 1552.
Visitors may enter outside prayer times. An upstairs gallery looks down on the prayer hall, and a museum of Islam fills the floor below.
From the main gate to the river walls.
Enter from the top of Bauman Street under the clock tower.
Cover up, take shoe covers at the door and climb to the visitors' gallery.
Manuscripts, Qurans and the story of Islam on the Volga.
The leaning tower and the Annunciation Cathedral across the square.
Walk the terraces for the river, the new city and the Family Center.
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Walk up Bauman Street to the Spasskaya Tower; Kremlyovskaya metro is at the foot of the hill.
For the mosque, cover shoulders and knees; women cover their hair. Scarves and capes are lent at the door.
The mosque closes to visitors at prayer times, especially Friday midday.
Kazan practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
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