Students from France on a guided tour through the old part of Chelny

Exploring Naberezhnye Chelny with the foreigners is, probably, one of the most complicated tasks of the guide. To satisfy the demanding taste of the people who have travelled a lot is very time-consuming and almost impossible. 

However, our guests were quite motivated; they took a vivid interest in the sights of Chelny and the city in general.

Leaving from the university building, we couldn’t help remembering R.Nizametdinov, also told them about the history of the city and the history of KAMAZ.

Tsentralnaya Street with its merchant buildings, turned by the Soviet rule into the maternity hospital, the city executive committee and others, will be remembered by our guests due to the two-storied stone-timber architecture and, especially, the Tatar ethnic motifs in the wood-carved frames. Located on either sides of the Kama river, the Tauba mosque and the St.Seraphim church, were the good occasion to show the unity of the multinational Tatarstan. But the most interesting thing for the guests appeared the landing stage – the pier.

The Chelny Phoenix – the Mother-Russia Memorial Complex excited a particular interest. It was a surprise for us to discover that the guests know not only the term “The Second World War” but also “The Great Patriotic War”.

We couldn’t help showing the monument to Vladimir Vysotsky, who, married to Marina Vladi, used to stay in France for longer periods of time in comparison with the rest of the Russians. Mathieu told us that his parents visited one of the concerts and they liked his songs. The guys liked the way the benches were decorated by the musical text.

The excursion lasted more than two hours but the time passed quickly. The excursion was dynamic, emotional and beautiful. The only thing that was not very good was the weather today. We managed to explain to the French students that this kind of winter we call the European winter. Thanks a lot to Yan - our translator.

After the excursion the guys were in a good mood. It was fun to work with such a motivated and concerned group.

Timur Magsumov – the guide, Ph.D. in History, Associate Professor.