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Obviously, it's probably not anything like Istanbul, but being that it is much further East than Turkey's largest city, East of the Caucasus mountains (the other Europe/Asia boundary?), and is the capital of Tatarstan, a mostly Muslim state, and just North of Kazakhstan, the first country to be firmly planted in central Asia, what do you think?
In the sense of it being a better representative for a city/area that straddles the boundary of two continents, it seems like almost a better example to me. I mean, the Bosphorus these days is a pretty insignificant boundary. Plenty of Southeastern Europe has a leftover Ottoman feel to it, so I'm not sure that works as reasoning either.
Read the history of this city - it's quite fascinating. And it comes across as different than that of Istanbul that has been taken over by Turks and that was basically it, from that point on. It looks like in case of Kazan, it all depended on how much Russians wanted to allow it to have "Eastern" or "Islamic" identity, once they were in charge of it.
Well, as Kazan is firmly in Europe, it's quite difficult to label it an Asian city. I think the Tatars were and are quite intensively russified, and culturally not very far from ethnic Russians. IDK, the small Tatar minority in Finland are competely finnicized, and you cannot tell them apart from ethnic Finns except for their Turkic names.
As Kazan has no historical significance to European history and was for long only a small city, I wouldn't think it as a good example anyway. Istanbul has a massive significance and has been a metropolis for 1500 years. And is actually on two continents.
But I think I heard sometimes that Kazan is considered maybe the best and most livable Russian city.
Actually, Atyrau, Kazakhstan has a better claim. It is a prosperous city of 160,000 that straddles the Ural River, which flows from the Ural Mountains to the Caspian Sea, and is generally recognized as the well-defined and conspicuous boundary between Europe and Asia.
If you are referring to me, no, what I ment is from a cultural stand point, where there are ethnic Russians/Christians in contact with easterners/Muslims/Buddhists
If you are referring to me, no, what I ment is from a cultural stand point, where there are ethnic Russians/Christians in contact with easterners/Muslims/Buddhists
Yes, I was referring to you. For a cultural standpoint I meant where East meets the even more East. You used the word 'west'.
Well, as Kazan is firmly in Europe, it's quite difficult to label it an Asian city. I think the Tatars were and are quite intensively russified, and culturally not very far from ethnic Russians. IDK, the small Tatar minority in Finland are competely finnicized, and you cannot tell them apart from ethnic Finns except for their Turkic names.
As Kazan has no historical significance to European history and was for long only a small city, I wouldn't think it as a good example anyway. Istanbul has a massive significance and has been a metropolis for 1500 years. And is actually on two continents.
But I think I heard sometimes that Kazan is considered maybe the best and most livable Russian city.
As I have been to Kazan - it is no Istanbul. Not even close. It does show some different cultural traditions than other cities in Russia. You will find the Koran in the train station shops. The public restrooms (at least, that I saw) had the slit trench-like appliance, as opposed to the urinal and toilet. They still spoke Russian, just like other Russian cities. The influences from the Islamic world are old, and vague, so far as I could see. Still there - but not like Istanbul.
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