This sprawling museum reserve is located 1km east of the town, with a boat landing directly in front of the large Museum of Bolgar Civilisation (Музей Болгарской цивилизации), an enormous neo-Bolgar building that houses the site's main exhibits on Bolgar's history. Ruins and other museums are scattered around a vast expanse of grassland on top of a high cliff above the Volga. The reserve is dominated by a minaret, and the Russian 18th-century Assumption Church, which today houses one of the museums.
