Kazan, a city with a thousand-year history, is situated near the great river Volga on the crossroad of ancient trade-routes, joining Europe and Asia, East and West. Different ages have added to the architectural appearance of Kazan. The synthesis of Russian and Tatar culture and the whole history of the city, which witnessed Tatar, Italian and Russian architects, survived the ages of the Bulgars and Golden Horde, are reflected in the Kazan Kremlin ensemble. Fortifications of the Kazan Kremlin and marvelous side-view of the Suyumbike Tower are considered to be symbols of Kazan far outside Tatarstan.

Kazan is proudly called «The World Capital of Tatars». «The largest ancient city of Russia and the most ancient among large ones». The city has mixed population (over 1 200 000) with equal numbers of Russians and Tatars, and hundreds of other nationalities.

For last decades of the XX century Tatarstan scientists and researchers from Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other cities of Russia together with foreign colleagues from Hungary, Austria, France, Czechia, Turkey, Egypt and Scandinavia have carried out deep scientific researches on the origin of the city. Ten unexplored manuscripts, 56 unknown maps where under different names the city was pointed on the place of modern Kazan were found in foreign archival depositories. Twenty archeological excavations were carried out in the territory of Kazan. More than two thousand archeological finds were discovered: different ceramics, arm, rare coins, furnishings, leather and metal artifacts and objects of life. Three international conferences were held on the results of scientific researches and investigations. In 1999 the final international conference «Medieval Kazan: origin and development» took place in the city, bringing together 150 scientists from 16 countries. Participants of the Conference adopted a resolution on the origin of the city of Kazan in the late X-th – early XI-th century, namely in 1004-1005. ...