Tourist information about Chistopol

General information

Chistipol (Chistipol, Chistay) - a city in the Republic of Tatarstan on the banks of the Kama River, 140 kilometers from Kazan (Chistopol on the map of Russia. The city is small, the population is slightly more than 60 thousand people, while it is a moderately visited tourist place.

The official history of the city begins in 1781, when the decree of Empress Catherine II the settlement was granted urban status. Prior to this, the village of Chistye pole was first mentioned in The Chronicles of the late 17th - early 18th century. There is a version that the village was originally formed by runaway serfs, but at the beginning of the 18th century they were all evicted, and the village was burned to a clean field. During the Great Patriotic War, Chistopol became a refuge for members of the Union of Soviet Writers. Then many writers and artists evacuated to the city, including Boris Pasternak, to whom the memorial complex is dedicated today. It is noteworthy that in 1952-1953 the city was the regional center of the Chistopol region as part of the Soviet experiment.

In Chistopol, tourists rarely stay for long. Most often it is visited in the form of a bus or river excursion from Kazan for one day, or road travelers make a stop on the way. Indeed, Chistopol is a worthy place for an excursion visit accompanied by a guide, but self-inspection of local attractions will hardly be exciting. The set of interesting places of Chistopol includes several museums, monuments, temples and mosques, but you will not see anything outstanding or original here. The architecture of the city also stands out little among other provincial cities. Keep in mind that Sunday is a weekend in the museums of the city, so there will simply be nothing to see here.

As for entertainment and tourist infrastructure, it is not at all. There is no separate tourist area or street, at least somehow creating the atmosphere of a tourist city. There are only a few hotels in the whole city, cafes and restaurants are represented by traditional "eateries" and cafes aimed at the local population, as in any other provincial Russian city. City tours in the city itself are impossible to find. All the tourist infrastructure that can be found here today is a souvenir shop, one for the whole city.

Despite all the rave reviews and descriptions of Chistopol on tourist sites selling tours and excursions to this town, we would recommend very carefully studying the reviews and descriptions of its attractions on independent sites before deciding on an independent trip or excursion here. Once again, there is something to see from the sights, and excursions to this city from Kazan are offered for good reason, just keep in mind that sophisticated and independent tourists may be somewhat disappointed.

How to get to Chistopol

Chistopol is located 140 kilometers from Kazan, and therefore it is most convenient to visit it in the form of a one-day excursion from the capital of the Republic. The cost of excursions for one day from 1900 rubles. Excursions usually include a trip on a tourist bus, a visit to several museums, lunch, a walk around the city and the waterfront.

You can buy excursions to Chistopol from Kazan in the travel agencies of the city, or use the search on these proven sites for searching and booking excursions with reviews:

• 📷 search for excursions in Kazan on Sputnik8.com
• 📷 search for excursions in Kazan on Tripster.ru
• 📷 excursions in Kazan from the tour operator TEZ Tour

Get to Chistopol on your own from Kazan by car it is possible for 2-2.5 hours. The road is not bad, but observe the speed limit, cameras are installed everywhere. On the way you will cross the Kama river over the bridge.

You can't get to Chistopol by plane or train from other cities. The only form of intercity transport connecting it with other cities is buses. The most convenient route is through Kazan (see how to get to Kazan). Also, regular bus services connect the chistopol bus station with Nizhnekamsk, Naberezhnye Chelny, Samara, Ufa, Orenburg and other major cities of the middle Volga part of Russia. Most buses are passing, but make a stop for boarding and disembarking passengers at the city bus station near the city center at 125 Karl Marx Street (bus station on the map). Information about flights to Chistopol can be found at Yandex. Schedules or bus.tutu.ru (online ticket purchase is available).

From Kazan, at least a dozen bus flights depart daily to Chistopol from the Southern Bus Station of Kazan (Orenburg passage, 207,bus station on the map), and from the Park house shopping center. Travel time 2-3 hours, cost from 250 rubles. bus schedule Kazan-Chistopol.

If you need to get to Chistopol from the airport, you will either have to make a transfer in Kazan, or get directly by taxi. It is most convenient to use a more comfortable alternative to a taxi – a tourist transfer. You can order it in advance at kiwitaxi or intui.travel, or use this search form:

Sights Of Chistopol

In Chistopol there is the Chistopol state historical, architectural and Literary Museum-Reserve, which includes several museums at once, the most interesting of which, in our opinion, is the Museum of the county town. Almost all museums work on a single schedule, Sunday and Monday in them are weekends. So these days you should not go to Chistopol, there will be nothing to see. The history of the city is connected with the name of one of the greatest poets and writers of the 20th century-Boris Pasternak, who, while being evacuated to Chistopol, conceived the writing of "Doctor Zhivago". Fans of the writer's work can visit his Memorial Museum. Also, you should definitely see St. Nicholas Cathedral – one of the most beautiful in Tatarstan.

Here is a list of attractions in Chistopol with opening hours, entrance fee and position on the map:

• Museum of the county town

  

  The Museum of the county town or the Museum of the history of Chistopol appeared in 1921 on the initiative of an amateur local historian Alexander Konstantinovich. The basis of the collection were exhibits from his personal collection, and some of them have survived to this day. This is an ancient Bulgarian chain mail; a beautiful spheroconus - a vessel for incense; eggs and nests of birds of the Chistopol region, as well as a collection of remains of ancient animals: mammoths, bison and rhinoceroses. Today's exhibition of the museum tells about the history of the city and the region from ancient times to the present day. Among the exhibits: household items, clothing, jewelry, tools, handicrafts, costumes, paleontological finds.

  The museum is worth a visit, and it is better to do it first, before exploring the rest of the sights.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Tuesday-Saturday 09:00-17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: 100 rubles adult; 70 – students, schoolchildren, pensioners; preschoolers - 20. Excursion service 500 rubles for a group of up to 10 people; family excursion ticket for a family of up to 5 people – 500 rubles.

  🚶 How to get there: the museum is located on the main street of the city of Karl Marx, 8 (Museum on the map), within walking distance from the waterfront.

• Boris Pasternak Memorial Museum

  

  Boris Pasternak spent almost two years in Chistopol – from 1941 to 1943 in evacuation. It is believed that it was here that he came up with the idea to write the world-famous novel "Doctor Zhivago", which he wrote later, from 1945 to 1955. The museum is located in the house where Pasternak lived. The exposition tells about the life and work of the writer, and includes his personal belongings. In general, the museum is small and at first glance not very interesting to a wide range of tourists, but thanks to the excursion support, his visit will be very memorable.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Tuesday-Saturday 09:00-17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: 100 rubles adult; 70 – students, schoolchildren, pensioners; preschoolers - 20. Excursion service 500 rubles for a group of up to 10 people; family excursion ticket for a family of up to 5 people – 500 rubles.

  🚶 How to get there: the museum is located at 81 Lenin Street (Museum on the map)

• St. Nicholas Cathedral

  

  The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (St. Nicholas Cathedral) was built in 1838. During the years of Soviet power, it was closed and heavily destroyed, the bell tower was blown up and one of the domes was destroyed. Only at the end of the last century it was restored, and today it is one of the most beautiful cathedrals of Tatarstan and the main temple of Chistopol.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: during daytime.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: the cathedral is located on a small hill next to the embankment, Karl Marx STR., 2 (Cathedral on the map)

• Art souvenir shop

  

  This is the only place in the city where you can buy souvenirs with local symbols, original crafts, watches produced by the Chistopol plant "Vostok", known all over the world. Prices are about the same as in any other souvenir shop in a tourist city. For example, magnets from 60 rubles, clay "whistles" from 120 rubles. It is located in an architectural landmark - the historical mansion of the Philistine Melnikov.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Monday-Saturday from 08:00 to 17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: located at 31 K. Marx Street (salon on the map)

• Museum "teacher's House"

  

  The museum "teacher's House" is actually dedicated and tells not about the life of teachers, but is dedicated to the life of writers during the war years. The fact is that during the Second World War, members of the Union of Soviet writers were evacuated to Chistopol. In this house, the offices of the Writers 'Union were located, and its premises became a venue for writers' evenings and literary meetings. Boris Pasternak, Leonid Leonov, Nikolai Aseev, Konstantin Fedin, Alexander Fadeev, Alexander Tvardovsky, Maria Petrova, Alexander Gladkov, Konstantin Trenev, Mikhail Isakovsky and others spent time here. Plays were staged on the stage of the assembly hall.

  The museum has partially preserved the interior and exterior of that time, two expositions present household items, documents and photographs. We recommend visiting this museum strictly with an excursion (excursion support is offered at the entrance for an additional fee), otherwise there is no point in going here.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: 100 rubles adult; 70 – students, schoolchildren, pensioners; preschoolers - 20. Excursion service 500 rubles for a group of up to 10 people; family excursion ticket for a family of up to 5 people – 500 rubles.

  🚶 How to get there: the museum is located at 28 K. Marx Street (Museum on the map)

• Museum and Exhibition Complex

  

  This is a new tourist destination in Chistopol, opened in 2017. It is located in the architectural landmark of Chistopol, a building built in the first half of the 19th century by a local merchant of the first Guild E. I. Chukashev in the eclectic style with elements of classicism and baroque. Inside, temporary exhibitions of works by local masters and artists, photo exhibitions, and master classes for children are organized on the first and second floors.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Tuesday-Sunday 09:00-17:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: from 70 rubles, depending on the exhibition.

  🚶 How to get there: the complex is located at 15 Karl Marx Street (Museum and Exhibition Complex on the map)

• Nur Mosque

  

  There are few mosques in Chistopol, since this is not a traditional Tatar settlement, but it was formed already during the ownership of these lands of Russia. The most important among the five mosques of the city is the Nur Mosque. It was built at his own expense by the merchant Hasan Yakupov in 1859. Surprisingly, even in Soviet times, it continued to serve believers until it burned down in the 1970s, because the building was wooden. The mosque was restored, and today it appears in its new appearance. The mosque can be entered and viewed from the inside. By the way, the mosque remains wooden to this day.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: during daytime.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: 39 Vakhitova Street, mosque on the map)

• Kama Embankment

  

  The Kama embankment is the only place where tourists can slowly walk, because this is an exclusively pedestrian zone. There are several monuments, a fountain, benches and gazebos, a children's playground. There is also a city sandy beach. In general, the embankment is very good, clean and beautiful, although there is not enough tourist zest for a full-fledged tourist pedestrian zone. There is no entertainment here.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: embankment on the map)

• House of tolerance

  

  The brothel, or more simply the former brothel, today can only be viewed from the outside. The building is dilapidated and closed, although it is clear that some restoration work was carried out with it. What will happen here next, demolish it or make a historical monument, time will tell, today you can look at it literally with one eye and go on, there is nothing interesting in it yet.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: 98 Butlerova Street, House of tolerance on the map)

• Gayaz Iskhaki Museum

  The historical-memorial and Ethnographic Museum of the outstanding Tatar prose writer, playwright and publicist Gayaz Iskhaki is located in the village of Kutlushkino (Yaushirma). Chistopol district. It is located in the House of his sister, where he often stayed, coming to his homeland. The house in which the writer was born and raised has not been preserved.

  The museum houses more than 3,000 exhibits telling about the history of the village, the life and work of the author, his journalistic and pedagogical activities, his personal belongings, documents, books, publications. One of the halls recreates the atmosphere of everyday life of the House of Mullah-Hazrat Gilyazetdin, the father of G. Iskhaki.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-17. 00, Saturday 8:00-13:00.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: 100 rubles adult; 70 – students, schoolchildren, pensioners; preschoolers - 20. Excursion service is included in the ticket price.

  🚶 How to get there: the museum is located in the village of Kutlushkino (Yaushirma), 27 kilometers from the city center (Museum on the map. It is best to get to it by your own transport.

• Settlement Of Dzhuketau

  The ruins of the ancient Bulgarian settlement of Dzhuketau (Zhukotin) are located near the center of Chistopol, on its outskirts. It is believed that the city here existed from the 10th to the 14th century, and it was one of the largest settlements of Volga Bulgaria. For many years, archaeological excavations were carried out here, and the artifacts found are stored in many museums. Today, unfortunately, there is almost nothing to see here, everything is overgrown with grass and covered with Earth. You can only see an earthen rampart, individual ruins and stones, but for this you need to come here for more than half an hour. To find something interesting, you will have to wander through the fields and hills, for which you should put on shoes and dress like a hike. There are no information signs here.

  Practical Information

  🕐 Working hours: around the clock.

  💵 Entrance fee / tickets price: free.

  🚶 How to get there: Djuketau is located on the outskirts of Chistopol (settlement on the map)

Hotels and accommodation in Chistopol, where to stay

There are very few options for accommodation in Chistopol, there are a dozen on the force. The location of the hotel/accommodation does not play a fundamental role, since the city is small, but it is still better to settle closer to the park on the embankment, since it is there that the historical part of the city and most of the attractions are located.

You can find and book accommodation in Chistopol through the following sites or the search form:

• 🛌 Search for hotels in Chistopol on Yandex.travel
• 🛌 Search hotels on Ostrovok.ru
• 🛌 Search for affordable housing in Chistopol on Sutochno.ru

Map Of Chistopol