Palace of Farmers

The Palace of Farmers is an administrative building in the historic center of Kazan, its façade facing Palace Square not far from the northern section of the Kremlin wall and the riverbank. It houses the republic’s agricultural ministry of Tatarstan, along with the specialized veterinary service and several subordinate agencies. Despite its utilitarian purpose, the building long ago outgrew the mold of a typical office building and became one of the most recognizable symbols of new Kazan.

The site for the palace was cleared of dilapidated houses that had stood at the start of Fedoseyevskaya Street. The project’s author was architect Leonid Gornik, and the work was carried out by the company “Antika-Plus.” Construction began in the spring of 2008 and was completed in 2010, at a cost of 2.2 billion rubles. The building appeared almost simultaneously with the formation of the whole of present-day Palace Square and became its southern architectural dominant.

The monumental eclectic exterior combines two symmetrical wings with porticoes and a central section with a portal beneath a classical dome; in silhouette the building has been compared to the Petit Palais in Paris and one of the wings of the Vienna Hofburg, although the architect himself insists the building follows the canons of classicism. The dome preserves classical proportions but is spiral-shaped, with translucent inserts, and is lit up green after dark. The building stands at the foot of a fifteen-meter hill, and its central spire rises to a height of 48 meters; a 20-meter bronze tree with a green-lit crown takes part in the building’s evening façade illumination.

Every year since 2011, on August 30 — Republic of Tatarstan and Kazan City Day — the square in front of the Palace turns into an open-air opera stage: the “Kazan Autumn” festival performs here in the open air, free for all comers. Its first program was accompanied by the Tatarstan State Symphony Orchestra, and among the invited soloists were opera stars from Russia and abroad.

The appearance of the building near the Kremlin walls sparked controversy even as construction was being completed: in 2010 the relevant cultural heritage protection agency of the Volga Federal District stated that building within the protected zone of a UNESCO World Heritage site violated monument protection standards. Opinions diverged — from awards for the best new urban landmark to “anti-awards.” In 2011, Kazan’s chief architect Tatyana Prokofyeva, while acknowledging the quality of the façade finishing, called the building stylistically out of place next to the Kremlin, and urbanist Ilya Varlamov ranked it among the most unsuccessful buildings in contemporary Russia.

Today the Palace of Farmers, together with the surrounding development of Palace Square, forms a new architectural contour of the center of Kazan on the river side. The building with the bronze tree on its façade has become one of the most photographed sites in the city and a permanent landmark on tourist routes, while the evening illumination of the dome and the tree’s crown has made it a notable part of the night panorama, visible from the opposite bank of the Kazanka.