Suyumbike Tower

Söyembikä Tower, also called the Khan's Mosque, is probably the most familiar landmark and architectural symbol of Kazan.Once the highest structure of that city's kremlin, it used to be one of the so-called leaning towers. By 1990s, the inclination was 198 centimeters. Diverse stabilization methods were used to straighten the tower in the 1930s and 1990s, and it no longer leans.The tower's construction date is enshrouded in mystery. Several scholars date its construction to the turn of the 18th century, when tiered towers were exceedingly popular in Russia.

A legend postulates that the tower was built more than a century earlier by Ivan the Terrible's artisans in just a week's time. As the legend goes, the Kazan queen Söyembikä threw herself down from the highest tier, hence the name.