The Qolşärif Mosque - Kazan
This post has been re written for Nomadic Backpacker and is based on my travels in 2013
Kazan is the capital of the Autonomous Region, The Republic of Tatarstan. The Tatars, who make up approximately half of Tatarstan’s population, are a Turkic people.
The Qolşärif mosque built in the 16th century was said to be - at the time of its construction - the largest mosque in Russia. It was named after Qol Şärif, imam of the Khanate of Kazan.
Qol Şharif died while defending Kazan from Russian forces in 1552.
It was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 during the Siege of Kazan.
I visited Kazan on my journey across Russia in January 2013. It was a cool -13 degrees C and the cold played havoc with my camera, hence the lack of photos. So I did a series of posts which featured just a single image. More to follow..
