Volga Federal District

The memorial of the leader of the world proletariat Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin in his homeland in Ulyanovsk is a complex of several buildings. It includes the Memorial Museum of V.I. Lenin, V. Lenin’s House Museum, the House Where Lenin was Born, the Ulyanovs’ Apartment-Museum. This is the largest of all the expositions existing in Russia, dedicated to the professional and personal life of the revolutionary. Its main value is that more than 70 percent of the exhibits are original. 

“V.I. Lenin's Homeland” State Historical and Memorial Museum Reserve unites several museums, many of which bear no relation to Lenin. In fact, this is a complex of museums, the exposition of which gives an idea of how old Simbirsk was before and after the birth of the world-famous revolutionary. It will take more than a day to get acquainted with the “V.I. Lenin's Homeland” State Historical and Memorial Museum Reserve, since there are more than 10 museums in its structure! 

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is the main attraction of Nizhny Novgorod. This is the fortress around which a big city grew up. The Kremlin is located on a high hill opposite the point where two rivers meet - the Volga and the Oka.

Surrounded by a ring of white-stone walls with gate and round towers, the Kazan Kremlin occupies a huge area at the confluence of the rivers of Volga and Kazanka. It is a spiritual and historical center of Kazan. Construction of the stone Kremlin began in the XVI century after the conquest of the city by Ivan the Terrible. The construction of this architectural ensemble was performed by outstanding Pskov architects. At that time many Muslim shrines were replaced here by Orthodox churches.

Church of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky is an evidence of the well-being of Nizhny Novgorod during the prosperity of the Makaryevskaya Fair. Merchants initiated the construction of the church. They were convinced that the fair needed its own fairground temple, and therefore they themselves collected money for its construction. The place for the church was chosen on Strelka. From this point a magnificent view of the Volga and the Oka opens.

The main Muslim temple of Tatarstan is the Kul Sharif Mosque in Kazan. It is a re-created mosque of the Kazan Khanate of the XVI century. The original mosque was destroyed in 1552 by the troops of Ivan the Terrible. A modern temple was being built near the Kazan Kremlin for ten years. The total of 400 million rubles of donations were spent for its construction.

The history of the Motovilikha plants in Perm is inextricably connected with the history of the city itself. The actual founder of Perm, historian and geographer Vasily Tatishchev laid here the foundation of the first copper-smelting plant in 1723. Later it was remodeled to an industrial complex to cast cannonry and other weapons for the Russian army. The plant was the leading industrial structure: it was in Perm where the first open-hearth furnace appeared, where the biggest hammer weighing 50 tons was in operation and where the local engineers invented and tested the world's first arc welder.

Novy Venets Boulevard is considered the most beautiful and comfortable in Ulyanovsk. It is a pedestrian street on the very top of the Ulyanovsk hill, which offers the best view of the Volga and where the history of the city began. Here, on top of the hill, the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo laid a fortress in 1648 which no more exists. The city of Sinbirsk appeared around it afterwards, having changed the letter N to the letter M in its name 130 years later. 

The Sviyazhsk island-town is surrounded by the waters of the rivers Sviyaga and Volga. The town, located 30 kilometers far from Kazan, was built in 1551 on the orders of Ivan the Terrible in the record period of time - in just four weeks! The walls and towers, cut down in Uglich, were rafted along the Volga, then collected on the island. In 1918 Sviyazhsk became the place where repressed people were sent. There is a legend according to which exactly in the period of political repression a monument to Judah appeared on the island. But historians have not found reliable information about this fact.

Gorky Communications Equipment Plant History Museum is dedicated to the history of the Gorky Automobile Plant, one of the largest enterprises in Russia. It was founded in Nizhny Novgorod in 1932. The construction was conducted with the help of specialists of the American auto giant Ford. From the first days of the working of the assembly line the plant began producing a full line of vehicles: trucks, buses, cars.

Baumana Street is one of the oldest streets in Kazan. Five hundred years ago the Nogai Road was located here. And now a pedestrian boulevard with shops, restaurants, sculptures, ancient mansions and churches is here.

The pompous Agricultural Palace located in the historical center of Kazan has won fame of one of the most controversial architectural constructions of the city. Its construction was completed in 2010.