Kazan, Russia—A Peace Road event in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan honored Ğabdulla Tuqay (1886-1913), a leading poet of the Tatar language.
Over three days, 40 participants bicycled to locations in Tatarstan that the poet had visited. The distance covered was 60 kilometers (more than 37 miles).
The Peace Road event titled "Peace Road: The Way of Tuqay – The Way of a Poet" was launched on July 30, 2022—International Friendship Day—in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan.
Universal Peace Federation organized the event in partnership with the Union of Cyclists of Tatarstan in support of the Year of Folk Art and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia.
The opening of the Peace Road event took place at the Ğabdulla Tuqay Literary Museum, where an interesting tour and a roundtable also were held.
Then the participants rode their bicycles through the memorable places of Kazan and went along the tourist route of the native places of the legendary Tatar poet: Kamaevo - Klachi - Srednyaya Serda - Koshlauch - Arsk.
The hospitality of people in the village of Srednyaya Serda was very impressive. The participants were greeted by local residents, youth, workers of the house of culture and libraries, and Rezide Khatipovna Battalova, the mayor. The cyclists were told about the history of the local region and were given homemade treats.
The participants were also warmly welcomed in the legendary poet’s birthplace, the village of Koshlauch, where they visited the house-museum of Ğabdulla Tuqay, the grave of his father and the local house of culture.
On the final day of the Peace Road event, the participants joined a volunteer project to clean up the area near the library and the monument to Ğabdulla Tuqay. The cycling marathon ended in the town of Arsk.
The Universal Peace Federation and the Union of Cyclists of Tatarstan express their gratitude to everyone who supports the Tuqay Way and invite them to join the development of the project.