Kazan has a reputation as a center of modern defense manufacturing - helicopters, bombers, and parts for aircraft engines are made here. The city's military traditions are extraordinarily strong, because their roots go back to the time of the Kazan Khanate.
The Cannon Yard appeared on the territory of the Kremlin in the 17th century. At that time, there were three buildings here forming a U-shaped complex. This place was the country's largest center for the production and repair of weapons, as well as an armory. After 100 years, in 1768, the armory buildings were rebuilt and altered during the large-scale reconstruction of the entire Kremlin. It was then that two corner towers appeared here.
In 1812, a fourth building adjoining the Kremlin walls was built. But just three years later, a major fire broke out at the Cannon Yard, which put an end to the manufacture of weapons and explosive substances on the territory of the Kremlin.
Several decades later, the School of military cantonists - children of hereditary military men - was opened in the buildings of the Cannon Yard, and in 1866 the cadet school moved here.
Now the functions of the buildings of the Cannon Yard Complex are as follows:
The main building - a dining hall for the military, as well as the Cannon Yard Museum;The southern building - the Museum of the History of the Kazan Kremlin;The western building - the Center of National Crafts (blacksmith's, jewelry, sewing, and pottery workshops);The northern building - the most luxurious of all, serves as the Representative Building of the Office of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.
