Monument "Kazan Cats": history and description

The founding of Kazan occurred more than 1000 years ago. To date, this city is one of the richest in terms of saturation historical events

Kazan - the capital of Tatarstan

The most visited place for tourists is the Kazan Kremlin, in the building of which works the architectural and historical museum of the city.

Another popular attraction is the temple of all religions. Its name indicates that different religions and religions are united by purity of thoughts and kindness of thoughts.

In a stunning city there are a lot of interesting places and monuments that can be seen somewhere in the shadow of a park or on a narrow street. Power and piety are felt in every lane, on every square, in every monument.

There is a Kazan cat in the city. Kazan very much honors these animals, and the unusual monument became a kind of personification of respect and honor. These cute fuzzy are the symbol of the city. It is believed that Kazan cats attract prosperity and luck in everything. Therefore souvenirs with this mustachioed beast are sold at every step.

But the cat has become a symbol of the city for a reason. There are several versions of the legend, shedding light on the cause of people's love for these animals.

Monument to the Kazan cat: description

In the place where the street of Musa Jalil intersects with Bauman street, there is a remarkable monument to the cat. It is a metal sculptural and architectural composition depicting a well-fed mousetrap, collapsed in a royal pose on a carved couch. At its foot there is a rug on which it is possible to see an old bouquet about a cat: "Cat Kazan, Astrakhan mind, Siberian mind. He lived gloriously, ate sweetly, sweetly walked. " The sculptor decided to soften the impression of this harsh expression and the last indecent word was replaced by a picture of a pot. And the meaning is not lost, and everything is censored. On the roof there is a small figure of a mouse.
Cat Kazan is the creation of the artist for metal Igor Bashmakova. The monument was installed in 2009. The casting of the sculpture was made at the Zhukovsky plant of art casting. All the masterpieces of the author are endowed with meaning and give people a piece of history. For example, his fountain with frogs, re-created in the same Kazan, is very famous.

The height of the sculpture of the cat is 3 meters, and the width is 2.8 meters.

Cat Kazan: the history of the legend. Medieval boulders

There are many stories related to the cat in Kazan. And they all have their roots in the long gone centuries. The most famous versions of how the Kazan cats have earned respect and love, every resident of the city knows from small to large. Let's talk about them in more detail.

The first legend is based on the content of the most famous luboks of medieval Rus, in particular "How the mice mice were buried" and "Cat Kazan". The latter is a picture, which depicts an animal with strongly goggled eyes, and not even a very decent inscription. Most historians believe that this splint is a kind of parody of the extraordinary appearance of Tsar Peter I. Indeed, if you analyze the details, you can see that the king really had a characteristic mustache, as well as slightly protruding eyes.

"How the mice were buried" - these are funny pictures, each of which is told in a comic form about the mice participating in the funeral. However, the humor was that the cat was actually alive and took turns eating up mice that had arranged a funeral procession for him. Such pictures are among the exhibits of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Favorite khan

The second legend is based on the Mari narrations about how the cat saved the Khan and his family. In those difficult times for the Khanate, the attack of the troops of Tsar Ivan the Terrible was expected. The Marian kings Akpars and Yylanda had conceived a mean cunning. They wanted to make a dig under the khan's chambers, to seize it with his family, and then to give Ivan Ivan the Terrible. Deep in the night the cat began to make alarming sounds, trying in every possible way to leave the luxurious chambers. Khan, accustomed to trusting his pet, realized that the animal warned of danger. Then he decided, using the secret passage, to leave the city. Having reached the Volga, the Khan and his family went to the shores of Persia. So, thanks to a little cat, they could avoid a bitter fate.

The Cat Guard

The third legend about how famous the Kazan cats are, seems to be the most reliable. Moreover, the events described in it are documented.

In the XVIII century, the expression "cat Kazan" was used quite often. Kazan was almost the only city where there were no mice. The cats living there had a reputation for good mousetraps. Their abilities greatly interested the Empress Elizabeth. She, having visited the city in 1745, issued a decree according to which it was necessary to find the best cats and send them to the capital. Under penalty of a fine, even pets that liked the Guardsmen were taken away from the owners and transferred to Petersburg. So it was collected more than 30 animals. They replenished the shaggy Life Guards of Elizabeth. In total, it consisted of 300 cats, according to the number of guards who had helped the Empress in the occupation of the throne. Once in the imperial chambers, the animals lived a luxurious life. Their food was beef, partridge and black grouse.

According to another version, the governor of the Kazan Khanate told about the dexterity of the Kazan cats to the empress . He found out that the rodents had invaded the imperial apartments of the Winter Palace, and he himself offered to help cats, who were descendants of Alabrys, who was famous as a sophisticated hunter of rats.

Cats in the Hermitage

Kazan cats, who are descendants of those who saved the palace from mice, still live in the premises of the Hermitage, guarding them from mice. From year to year, on April 1, museum workers arrange a grand feast for their wards, timed to the Day of the March Cat. Delicacies and treats for every taste, toys in the form of mice, the obligatory stroking of fluffy puszki ... In short, a real holiday for the mustachioed-striped.

About other cats

Monument "Cat Kazan", whose history began with the merits of hunters-mouser in the XVIII century, there is not only in this city. The sculpture of Alabrys (as the locals call it) is made of light sandstone and is located on the territory of the monastery in Raif. There are similar monuments in St. Petersburg and Kiev.

Many tourists call the monument to the Kazan cat the main attraction of the city. Kazan, of course, is a place where visiting places of interest is not limited to this sculpture alone. However, this monument is of great interest for fans of legends and parables.