Kazan
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kazan | |
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| Kazan's symbol is Zilant | |
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| Languages | Tatar, Russian |
| Mayor | İlsur Metşin |
| Coordinates | 55°47′N 49°10′E |
| Area | 425.2 km² |
| Population | 1,154,000 |
| Founded | by Volga Bulgarians ~ 1005 |
| Time zone | UTC +3 |
| City Day | 30 August |
| Dialling code | +7 843 |
| Religion | Sunni Islam Russian Orthodox others |
Kazan (Tatar Qazan, Казан, Russian Казань) is the capital city of Tatarstan and one of Russia's largest cities. It is a major industrial, commercial and cultural center, and remains the most important center of Tatar culture. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga (İdel) and Kazanka (Qazansu) rivers in central European Russia.
[edit] Name
The origin of the name is unclear. The literal translation of Tatar qazan is a boiler or cauldron. Alternately, it may have been derived from qazğan, Tatar for dug [ditch].
"Qazan" is originally a name for a special cooking pan, a variant of a wok, but more solid and heavier. It was believed that the city of Kazan is named after this object because of its geographical similarity with a "qazan"-pan; namely the city is situated in a U - shape lowland.
Another, a more romantic legend tells a story of a Tatar princess Söyembikä, who dropped a golden dish (golden qazan) in to the river on which the city is located while washing it.
Nevertheless, Chuvash legends refer to Bulgarian prince Khusan (Chuvash rendering of Muslim name Hassan) and Chuvashes call this city Хусан after the name of this prince.
[edit] Images
 View of the Kazan Kremlin |
 One of the first (wooden) houses in Kazan |
 Kremlin and City center, as seen from the State University |
