Architecture of the XVIII century

Such constructions as Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, Bogoyavlenie Church (Epiphany Church), Evdokiya’s Church, Pokrovskaya Church were built in the first half of the century. At the same time appeared a group of buildings that beautified the Kazan Kremlin. Also the Kremlin was palisaded with a stone wall and a high gate-tower. A clock was set into the Spasskaya Tower.

In 1768 the first professional architect of Kazan V.I.Kaftirev developed a project of the city replanning. The central streets were built up with mainly stone constructions. After the Kazan was captured by Pugachev the city was badly damaged by the fire, and in general the fires were rather common.

The new general plan was brought to life rather enthusiastically. It was often written that Kazan was the best city after Moscow and St.Petersburg.

V.I.Kaftirev was a representative of Russian Baroque. Presumably, the First cathedral mosque (Mosque Mardzhany) was constructed by his design.

 It’s usually considered that 1790-s was the beginning of Classicism in Kazan architecture, as that was the period when Italian architect Joseph Maria came to work there. By this time the city already had a community of professional architects who built up the capital of the province according to the highest requirements of the modern Russian architecture.

In 1743  418 of 536 mosques that were located on the territory of the Kazan district (uezd) were destroyed, including those situated in the Tatar Sloboda and in the Kazan suburbs. That is how it happened: after the archimandrite Dmitry applied to the Holy Synod, on July, 27, 1742 it was decided “not to build Tatar mosques in Russia and to destroy already existing ones”, with the reference to order by Fedor Ioannovich. So on November, 19, 1742 the Senate issued an edict “all the newly-built mosques of the Kazan province should be destroyed, no new mosques can be constructed. The Kazan, Astrakhan and Voronezh provinces should keep in mind that in the areas where Tatars live far from newly-christened settlements, there mosques should be left as they are necessary for people’s needs”. By “newly-built” mosques actually were meant all the mosques constructed after the Kazan capture. Besides together with Kazan mosques it was ordered to destroy mosques almost in all parts of Russia. These measures were accompanied by unprecedented persecution of foreigners, forced christening and so on.

But already in February 1744 there took place a sitting of council dedicated to numerous complaints of Kazan Moslems; guided by the opinion of Peter the Great it was decided to leave the remaining mosques untouched. And in April 1744 the destruction of mosques was stopped, and some of them were even restored. 

It was allowed to restore 2 mosques, but in 1749 the fires completely destroyed the Tatar Sloboda, and on the territories occupied by former mosques there were built churches. After all these events the monumental stone building of mosques declined and remained so until the Catherine’s Epoch, when on the streets of Kazan appeared stone mosques built in the Baroque style.