The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan occupies the late-19th-century Gostiny Dvor (trading rows) on Kremlyovskaya Street, just south of the Kremlin's main gate. The collection covers the region from prehistoric times through the Volga Bulgar state, the Khanate of Kazan, and the Russian and Soviet periods.
The highlights are the medieval Tatar room — silver, glass, and ceramics from Bolgar and other Khanate-era sites — and the ethnographic display of Tatar costume and Tatar-Russian peasant life. Captions are largely in Russian and Tatar; some English summaries. Plan on an hour and a half.