Sviyazhsk

village in Zelenodolsky District, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia

56km

Galiaskar Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre

5.5km

Söyembikä Tower

Söyembikä (various spellings, usually Suyumbike in English; in Cyrillic Сөембикә) was a Tatar princess, and regent of Kazan 1549-1551 during the minority of her son. In 1551 Ivan the Terrible captured the area, and the legend goes that he pressured the widowed princess to marry him. She consented to marry only if he could build the highest tower in Kazan in seven days, which he promptly did; so she jumped to her death from the top of the tower. In truth she was carted off to Moscow, re-married (her third) and died some time around 1554, while the tower was probably built at a much later date. It's 58 m tall, in tiers; it famously used to lean, but was stabilised and straightened in the 20th-century. You can admire it from the outside but you can't enter or climb it.

6.6km

Kazan Kremlin

The Tatar fortress here was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible when he captured the area in 1551. Over the next century, it was rebuilt in Russian style as a magnificent Kremlin, with new fortifications and a cathedral. It nowadays also contains a mosque, museums, galleries, shops and cafes, and is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Enter through the white clock tower (Spasskaya Tower) at the top of Kremlyovskaya Street. Unlike Moscow's Kremlin, you're free to enter and stroll, but you pay for individual sites within the complex. These are lined along the central boulevard, mostly on the left as the buildings on the right are under reconstruction. They're listed below roughly south to north, in the order you'd come to them. Allow a full day to appreciate them all. Guided tours are available for 300 руб, but you won't get lost here.

6.9km

Kul Sharif Mosque

mosque in Russia

6.9km

Assumption Cathedral, Sviyazhsk

56km