Sloboda in serf Russia was called either a village whose inhabitants were not serfs, or an urban suburb. The Old Tatar settlement is a former okologorodsk settlement, and now the southern part of the central district of Kazan is the historical heart of the city.
History of occurrence
This settlement appeared after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552. Its first settlers were Tatars - warriors and feudal lords who took part in the conquest of this settlement.
In 1556, here, outside the city limits, Tatars were evicted from the center, who resisted the newly arrived Orthodox missionaries. But of course, here, on the shores of Lake Kaban, and this is proved by archaeologists, there were earlier settlements. Initially, as often happens, the Old Tatar settlement was a single street that stretched along the lake.
The formation of the settlement
By the time of the first documentary mention of it in the Scribe Book of 1565-1568, the settlement was a suburb of 150 yards and consisting of several dead-end streets. It stretched from the northwest to the southeast. It was limited by the left bank of the Lower Kaban Lake and the Bulak Canal, which connected the Kazanka River, a tributary of the Volga, with the Kaban Lakes. On the north side, the Old Tatar settlement was limited to the Central Market. Now it is located in the south of the Vakhitovsky central district of the city. As they formed, the suburb was divided into three parts - in the southernmost, beyond the Bulak channel, artisans settled, it was the industrial part of the settlement. The northern part, located closer to the city, became business, the center of the suburb was a cultural and residential part.
The historical center of the settlement
The main highway of this microdistrict of the city is Tukaya street. Kazan immortalized the memory of its national poet Gabdulla Tukay (1886-1913), who died, according to M. Gorky, of “hunger and consumption” at the age of 26, not only in the names of urban sites.
This street was completely built up with mansions of the Tatar nobility - merchants-industrialists and representatives of the clergy. The center of this historical district is the very small Yunusovskaya Square, located at the intersection of Tukaya and F. Karim Streets.
The Benefactor's Arrival
Of course, over time, the wooden houses wore out, deteriorated, they were demolished, and new modern buildings appeared in the vacant place, and nevertheless, many authentic (genuine) Tatar buildings remained in the Old Tatar settlement. The fire of 1842 caused particular damage to the wooden buildings. After 1751, the New Tatar settlement began to form south. In 1767, Catherine II visited Kazan. She personally authorized the construction of stone mosques. And when in 1773 the famous law “On Tolerance of Religions” was issued, the Old Tatar settlement began to develop rapidly.
The first stone religious buildings
Before the empress arrived in the settlement there were two wooden mosques built in 1749 and 1759. Immediately after the departure of the royal person, in the same 1767, the merchant M. Yunusov began the construction of a stone mosque. And this was the first officially registered parish after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. The current Al-Marjani mosque was built for four years, and funds were raised for it by the whole world. She received her name in honor of Imam Shigabutdin Marjani, who served in her for 30 years.
He was a famous Tatar enlightener and theologian. This cult institution was not closed during the years of militant atheism. In 1768, another stone mosque began to be built - Baiskaya (now Apanaevskaya). The historical proximity of the two peoples was reflected even in the construction of Muslim temples. So, the Old Tatar settlement in Kazan boasts the Burnaev Mosque, in the architecture of which elements of both Tatar and Russian architecture are clearly visible.
Local government centers
With the construction of this area, the formation of mahallas began. The mahalla is the part of the settlement in the East, usually the size of a quarter, which is carried out by local government. The center of the mahalla is a mosque. Since the Old Tatar settlement in Kazan had 10 mahallas, there were as many mosques here. The liberal era of Catherine II was very well reflected in Kazan: the city was rich, and very beautiful mansions in the national style began to be built here.
The pearl of the Old Tatar settlement
One of the most remarkable is the so-called Shamil's house, located on Tukay street. It was built in 1863 by a millionaire, a merchant of the first guild, Ibrahim Iskhakovich Apakov. The house is located near Yunusovskaya Square, on Catherine Street. The only daughter of this rich man was married to the third son of Imam Shamil, the famous leader of the Caucasian highlanders. Shamil himself was never in this city, he was imprisoned in Kaluga, but he was a prominent person in the Muslim world. So, in a dowry of an 18-year-old girl who married a 45-year-old uncle, I. Apakov presented this palace, which is included in the list of “Sights of Kazan”. The description of this architectural monument and cultural heritage site, which has housed the Gabdulla Tukay Museum since 1986, can be started with parameters. The area of the building is 430 square meters, and the volume is 4200 cubic meters.
The exterior of the house is a variation on the theme of medieval architecture. On the facade there are mashikuli (mounted loopholes), arcature belts (a series of false arches), stucco monograms and turrets with forged tops. The facade is decorated with bay windows and risalit (the part of the building that extends beyond the main line of the facade), on the roof there are high tents with weathercocks.
Other attractions
Absolutely the entire Old Tatar settlement is a complex landmark of Kazan. But there are objects in it that deserve special attention, which glorify not only this historical district, but the whole city of Kazan. Nurull Mosque is an architectural monument. It was erected in the years 1845-1849 in the very center of historical Sennaya Square with funds from the same Yunusov family. The unique building was built by architect A.I. Peske, the author of the project was A.K. Loman.
There is also the Blue Mosque, which is also ancient, in the Old Tatar Settlement. There are ten of them, as noted above, and each is worthy of attention. There is also the Tikhvin Church, intended for a special group of Tatars who profess Orthodoxy. Of the non-religious objects, the Apanaev House and the Merchant House deserve attention.
By subway - best
People come from all over the world to see these miracles. How to get to the Old Tatar settlement? When the city has a subway, getting to the sights becomes much easier. The Kremlin metro station is located under the Kazan Kremlin - one of the main tourist sites. The next station is Tukaya Square. To explore the historic city center, you can go to one of these stations. From Tukay square along Tatarstan street you can walk to the Old Tatar settlement. It is within walking distance. But public transport can also be reached - here are the routes of trolleybuses No. 3, 5, 7 and several buses. From other areas of the big city, the central historical Vakhitovsky, separated from the others by the Kazanka River, can be reached via the Millennium Bridge, which was opened for the 1000th anniversary of Kazan, by three dams and by metro.
Sloboda Address
The complex attraction of the city - the Old Tatar settlement - the address has this: the south of the central Vakhitovsky district of Kazan. And if you need to find out the address of a particular attraction, then the first assistant in this matter will be the network.
For example, what is the address of the Al Mardjani Mosque? It looks like this: Kazan, Kayuma Nasyri Street, 17. And where is the Shamil House located? Kazan city, st. Gabdullah Tukay, 74.