Bolaq

thumb|400px|Bolaq from bridge at the crossing with Kamal Street The Bolaq (; ) is a canal that once flowed from the northern part of Birge Kaban to Kazanka. Today it is an isolated channel in downtown Kazan. The modern length of Bolaq is , and the width is . As a street Bolaq, or, more correctly, Uñ yaq Bolaq/Pravobulachnaya and Sul yaq Bolaq/Levobulachnaya streets is a major arterial road in Central Kazan.

==Etymology== thumb|200px|Bolaq embankment in 1990s thumb|200px|Bolaq from Pushkin Street, Kazan thumb|200px|Bridge at Nacmi Street (1920s–1930s) 200px|thumb|Bolaq at spring tide (1920s–1950s) Bolaq or Bulak, the Russian spelling, refers also for two streets, that are the embankments of the channel: Left Bolaq (Sul yaq Bolaq/Levobulachnaya; Cyrillic:Сул Болак/Левобулачная) and Right Bolaq (Uñ yaq Bolaq/Pravobulachnaya; Cyrillic:Уң Болак/Правобулачная). The origin of the word bolaq is disputed. Some claim that this comes from balaq, i.e. "arm". Another state that "bolaq" is an Old Tatar/Bulgar for "brook" and could be found in several modern hydronyms of Tatarstan.