Chuvash Republic has a rather high cultural potential. 41 national and six state professional theatres (Russian and Chuvash drama, opera and ballet, youth, puppet, experimental drama theatre), philharmonic society, song and dance academic ensemble, academic choir, chamber orchestra of ancient and modern music, a network of exhibition halls and galleries of modern art, 985 clubs, six professional concert collectives, 13 state museums with branches, 46 public museums, 685 public libraries (the total fund is 11 million books) are engaged in active creative work in this sphere.
    
    Despite complexity of the economic situation, in the past decade no establishment was closed here, and what is more new rural clubs are under construction, unique objects have been opened, such as Museum of cosmonautics, Museum of Military Glory of Chuvash Republic, memorial complex of the poet Mikhail Sespel, the Chuvash state institute of culture and arts. A real breakthrough has been made in the field of informatization of libraries, rural ones included. In towns and districts there are 27 schools of arts, 18 music and 13 art schools, which train over 13,000 children. 10 creative unions function here.
    
    The art museum actively develops partner relations with Russian and international organizations, museums, individual collections. Guest performances of the Chuvash theatres are eagerly waited by spectators not only in villages, but in numerous Russian cities, and especially, where there is Chuvash diaspora. And the republic is annually visited by world and Russian stars of ballet and opera art during popular festivals - Chuvashia is widely known by the International M.D.Mikhailov opera festival (Chuvash compatriot, famous bass of the Bolshoi theatre) and International ballet festival. All-Russia festival of national creativity “Springs of the Volga region” for the first time conducted in Cheboxary ten years ago for ever has taken roots in the affable capital of Chuvashia and nowadays, it collects annually up to 5,000 participants from all regions of Russia.
    
    On March 12, 2003 Cheboxary became the third “Cultural capital of Privolzhskii federal district”, having received the relay stick from Kirov and trying to meet the tradition set 20 years ago in Europe. Within the framework of the project, the townspeople and visitors will have not only traditional meetings with art, but new cultural discoveries as well.
    
    One of the priorities of cultural policy in the republic is support of gifted children; by the decree of the President of Chuvashia special grants were established. The parliament adopted special laws on culture, on development of libraries; the republican purpose-oriented programme “Preservation of culture, art and cinematography of Chuvash Republic” is being carried out.
    
    14 public national-cultural centres are creatively working in the republic. Chuvashes, Russians, Tatars, Maris, Mordvinians, Germans and other ethnoses have an object not only to preserve national traditions, but to popularise actively native culture as well. Many holidays, having appeared in places of compact residing, turned into republican and even All-Russian festivals - Chuvash “Kemel sasa (Silver voice)”, Tatar “Urmai mony”, Russian “Sound, Russian province!”.
    
    346 monuments of architecture are unique cultural objects for the contemporaries. Many of them are of federal importance: Vvedensky cathedral (1657), Saint-Trinity monastery (1566), Salt office, house of the well-known merchants Zaleishchikov, Solovtsov, father and brothers of the Yefremovs family (the 18th – 19th centuries) in Cheboxary, the Tolmachevs house and Trinity cathedral (the 18th century) in Tsivilsk, Burashnikov’s house in Yadrin.
    
    Saurce: www.cap.ru