Specific features of the process of cities and urban culture formation in Volga Bulgaria at different stages of historical development of the region are discussed in the article. In the 9^th to 10^th centuries, the process of Bulgar cities formation was stimulated by the population numerical growth and a growing social need in handicraft products, as well as by considerations of defense. This process was facilitated by two phenomena: the expansion of the Bulgar trade and the formation of a system of relations between the settled population of Bulgaria and its nomadic neighbors. At the next stage of Bulgar urbanization (11^th–12^th c.) the cities acquired a predominantly craft and trade character; settlement structures around urban centers were under formation; state urban development planning was practiced; a special role was played by transcontinental trade and cultural ties. Following the Mongol conquest, in the 13^th–14^th centuries the cities became open, or unfortified. The role of the state in the foundation and construction of cities was growing. The Golden Horde formed a new hierarchy of relations between the center and the periphery, and in the new conditions Bulgar cities were rapidly turning provincial and nearly agrarian.