410 EUSSIA IN EUEOPE. 



on the right bank of the Volga, nearly facing the monastery of St. Macarius and 

 the junction of the Kerjenetz. On the banks of this river formerly stood a number 

 of skits, or convents of the Popovtzî ; but in 1855 most of the inmates were either 

 dispersed or "converted " to the Orthodox faith. In this region the most revered 

 spot is Lake Svetloi'e, the "■ Bright," rather over 2 miles in circumference, and lying 

 to the west of Vorkresenskoïe, on the Vetluga. The waters of this lake are popularly 

 supposed to cover a city (Great Kitej), which God caused to disappear at the time 

 of the Tatar irruption to save it from being sacked, the inhabitants continuing to 

 live below the surface. People of strong belief can even still see the houses and 

 turrets through the clear waters, just as 



" On Lough Ncagh's banks as the fisherman strays 

 When the clear cold eve's declining, 

 He sees the round towers of other days 

 In the wave beneath hirn shining." 



The Orthodox are firmly convinced that the Chereraissians still continue to pursue 

 their ordinary vocations in the place, which is consequently much frequented by 

 pilgrims. Other practices recall another "Western legend, that of Lady Godiva, 

 only still rehearsed on a large scale and in a very realistic form. 



The chief city of this region is Kfizan, the famous capital of the Tat »r Khans, at 

 the north-east extremity of Muscovy proper, here limited by the great bend of the 

 Volga. As the great entrepôt between Europe and Asia, it succeeded to the city of 

 Bolgar, which was even more conveniently situated below the junction of the Volga 

 and Kama. Kazan is first mentioned in Russian annals in the year 1376. 

 Removed in the fifteenth century from an older site 30 miles higher up on the 

 Kazanka, it now stands about 3 miles from the left bank of the Volga, whose waters, 

 however, reach it only during the floods, at other times communicating with it 

 through the Kazanka. The main thoroughfare follows the crest of the hills, whose 

 slopes are covered with houses grouped round the kreml. Of this old citadel 

 nothing remains except two stone towers dating from the time of Ivan IV. The 

 only other ancient structure in the place is the four-storied red-brick tower of 

 Sumbek, and even this seems posterior to the fiill of the Khans in 1552. The 

 Moslem Tatars, who still form one-tenth of the population, have a great venera- 

 tion for this building, in which is supposed to be buried one of their saints, from 

 whose skull flows a perennial stream of water. The central quarters have been 

 exclusively inhabited by Russians since the expulsion of the Tatars at the end of 

 the sixteenth century, when their mosques were also burnt. 



The University, founded in 1804, has a library, an observatory, an anatomical 

 lecture hall, a chemical laboratory, and a remarkable collection of Volga fishes.* 

 Here is also a Tatar printing establishment, and since 1867 the '' Confraternity of 

 St. Guriy " has issued numerous manuals and religious works in the various Tatar, 

 Finn, and Ugrian dialects. The ecclesiastical academy-, dating from 1846, now 

 contains the library of the Solovki convent, with some unique documents for the 



* University of Kazan (1878) :— Professors, 87; students, 572; library, 78,003 volumes, 12,000 

 pamphlets, 800 manuscripts ; budget, 333,000 roubles. 



