Bolghar

About this place

Bolghar is a historic city site on the Volga River, some 130 km from Kazan, and it was intermittently the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 10th to the 13th centuries. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 2014. It has a special place for Arab readers, as Ibn Fadlan reached this land as an envoy of the Abbasid caliph and wrote his famous account. The mission of Caliph al-Muqtadir reached Volga Bulgaria in 922, which is counted as the start of its people's official adoption of Islam. The Muslims of Tatarstan still mark that date. In 1236 the Mongols attacked, looted and burned the city. The land then passed into the Golden Horde, and the city flourished again for a time before giving way to Kazan. You walk across a wide green plain above the Volga, scattered with white stone ruins. Among the main ones are the remains of the Cathedral Mosque and its stone minaret, the Mausoleum of the Khans, the domed Black Chamber and the foundations of the Khan's Bath. Beside the site is a white Assumption Church seen from outside, and at the edge the modern White Mosque, with its domes and minarets clean against the sky. It is about 92 km from the Kazan Kremlin in a straight line, about three hours by car, or by tourist boat on the Volga in summer. The site is large, and electric carts are available. Bring a hat and water. It also has a museum with a large printed Quran, so allow half a day. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Russia, and non-Russian bank cards may not work, so read the current advice before you plan.