Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev met with the First president of Tatarstan, State Advisor of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republican chairman of the Foundation Board of Trustees of the revival of monuments of history and culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, on the eve of his 80th birthday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Mintimer Shaimiev for the joint work in previous years and activity in the study and preservation of the Russian and Tatar cultural and historical heritage. Head of State handed M. Sh. Shaimiev a gift – a map of the ancient Tartaria made by Dutch cartographer Willem Blaeu of XVII century.

“I want to thank you for working together in previous years, and for what you are doing lately, including the study of our common culture and history, – President said. – This is a very important work, one of perhaps the most important, we have to deal with. ”

During the meeting Mintimer Shaimiev described the activities to rebuild the fund headed by him, Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the capital of Tatarstan, and the construction of the Bulgarian Academy of Islam.

In 2016, the ceremony of laying the first stone of the capsule in the foundation of the restored Cathedral, which was attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill. Cathedral, the draft of which is a complete copy of a lost original in 1932, will be the basis for the reviving of the Kazan Mother of God Monastery.

The Bulgarian Academy of Islamic (Bolgar), construction of which is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2017, is designed to continue the tradition of the Tatar theological heritage and become a leading religious-educational, spiritual and educational center of the country.

Press service of the mission of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation