Large-scale renovation awaiting Kazan Kremlin walls
The restoration was announced last year
Parts of three walls will be restored
Kazan is preparing for a large-scale renovation of Kremlin walls. Three acts of the State Historical and Cultural Heritage Committee have been published on the website of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Tatarstan: on the renovation of the parts of the walls between the Spasskaya and South-West towers, between the Nameless and North-West towers, and between the Preobrazhenskaya and Pyatigrannaya (Editor’s note: recognised as lost) towers. The examination gave a positive conclusion on all three projects.
According to the documentation, many structural parts of the three parts are in an unsatisfactory condition. Through cracks, delamination, destruction of masonry, fungal and mould damage, erosion, etc. are recorded. At the same time, some elements of the wall section between the Spasskaya and South-West towers are assessed as being in a state of emergency. These include the base, ceilings, floors, interior walls and the facade.
As part of the project, the battlements will be restored at the sites. It is planned to restore the stair railings. The floor will get a new covering with a herringbone pattern.
It is also planned to restore and preserve more than 20 stoves (cannon casemates with an embrasure). Here, the loopholes will be dismantled, the brickwork will be treated from fungi, and they will be completed with missing bricks. The stoves will have a brick floor with a herringbone pattern. As for the facades of the buildings, they will be painted in a colour “like old wood.” In addition, it is planned to install gates in the stoves on the sections of the walls between the Spasskaya and South-West towers, as well as between the Preobrazhenskaya and Pyatigrannaya towers, in order to organize souvenir shopping areas. Electric lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems will be installed here.
Realnoe Vremya’s photojournalist visited the walls of the Kazan Kremlin and captured a crack on the section of the walls between the Nameless and North-West towers.
Work will begin this year
The restoration of the Kremlin walls became known in November 2024, when a number of media outlets published reports on structural defects. In particular, attention was drawn to cracks in some areas.
Then Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites Ivan Gushchin responded by stating that the condition of all objects of the Kazan Kremlin, including the sections of the walls, is under constant control. According to him, all changes are regularly monitored.
“This year, design and survey work is being completed on a number of sections of the fortress wall, where a phased restoration work is planned for 2025. The restoration work will include strengthening the foundation body, strengthening the body of the rubble filling of the purlins, stitching cracks, stitching the facing layer of the purlins with the body of the rubble filling using spiral anchors,” he said.
The walls did not become the first stage of the renovation of the Kazan Kremlin. In November last year, Manezh restoration project successfully passed the state examination. Also in 2025, it is planned to begin a comprehensive restoration of the Syuyumbike Tower, and a little over a month ago, scientific and design documentation for the preservation of the Preobrazhenskaya Tower was published on the committee's website.