The

The Welcome to a history of Europe, Kibato, the Siege of Kazan of 1552, Part 1 of 3

The Modern City of Kazan is situated in the middle Volga River Basin, some 715 km or 445 miles east of Moscow.

It is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan and the eighth most popular city in Russia.

With a rich Islamic heritage, an estimated 55% of the population today of Tartastan is Muslim, the rest mostly Orthodox Christians.

The region based numerous great mosques, both ancient and modern, including the most important

and magnificent mosque in Russia, the Kala Sharif mosque and the city of Kazan.

The Kuala Sharif is one of the largest mosques in Russia and

Europe, and as well as a place of worship today serves as a museum and also as a symbol of the Tatar

people, descendants of the Mongols who once ruled the region. The existing Kholosheriv Mosque was

constructed between 1996 and 2005.

Whether its look is very modern, its design is inspired by a mosque which stood in the same location in the 15th century, when the city was the capital of a carnate, a successor to the Golden Horde.

It is named after its leading teacher, Conno Sharif,

who is said to have died trying to save the mosque

from an army of Ivan the Terbil in the year 1552.

For centuries, the site remained empty

until recently, when with the help of many other countries,

including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, the mosque was rebuilt to its former glory.

Today it is a popular tourist destination and is part of the Kazan Kremlin UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The history of the Kazan region goes back to the Volga-Bulgars, who created a thriving state in the middle Volga region in the 8th century AD.

As described in an earlier podcast on the Battle of the Clydon Pass 1014, the Bulgars were originally a Turkic people, who in the 6th and 7th century lived

north of the Black Sea in a confederation known as Old Great Bulgaria.

...