Lipetsk on the river Voronezh is the capital of the Russian oblast of the same name. The city is historically known from the 13th century, where it was destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1284. However, modern Lipetsk was founded by Peter the Great in 1703, when he established an iron foundry here to produce artillery shells. Lipetsk was well located near Voronezh and at the same time close to deposits of iron in the region. It was formally granted city status in 1789, and Lipetsk became one of the largest cities in the Tambov Governorate.

Lipetsk continued its development through industrialization in the 19th century, and at the end of the century the city reached 20,000 inhabitants. Lipetsk, like other parts of Russia, became part of the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution. From 1925, Germany and the Soviet Union cooperated on a secret air base near Lipetsk, where the technical cooperation thereby avoided the sanctions of the Treaty of Versailles. Cooperation stopped with the Nazi seizure of power in Germany in 1933. Lipetsk continued its industrial growth, and the population reached 500,000 at the turn of the 21st century.

Today, Lipetsk is a modern city with sights that primarily originate from 1900’s constructions and architecture. The center of the city is along the streets ulitsa Sovetskajy, ulitsa Pervomayskaya and ulitsa Nedelina, which all emanate from the great Victory Square, Ploshad Pobedy. In the middle of the square, you can see the Victory Monument, which with a stele as the central element was inaugurated in 2015 as a monument to the victory of the Soviet people over Germany during the Second World War. Ploshad Pobedy was developed from around 1960, when the Sputnik cinema opened. Later, Lipetsk’s Central Market was built on the northwest corner of the square.

From Ploshad Pobedy you can walk east along ulitsa Sovetskaya towards Revolution Square. Along the way you pass Teatralnaya Ploshad, where Lipetsk’s modern drama theater is located. On the Revolution Square you can see a revolution monument, and if you go further east, you come to Peter the Great’s Square. Here stands a large monument to Peter the Great, erected to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the foundation of the Russian Navy. In this area, you can also go for a walk in the green space on Lenin Square and to Nizhny Park, which is a large city park with a zoo, several attractions and a beach along Voronezh.

North of Revolution Square and Nizhny Park is the square Soborbaya Ploshad, where you can see a statue of the head of state Lenin standing in front of the Lipetsk Oblast’s large government building, which was built in 1958 as Dom Sovetov. The architecture is Soviet monumental classicism, befitting the Cathedral of the Nativity next to the government building. The cathedral was completed in 1842, and it was an active church until the Soviet era, when a museum was opened in the building. In 1991, the cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. From Sobornaya Ploshad, you can walk along Ulitsa Lenina, where you can visit the Lipetsk Art Museum and the city’s regional museum, which tells the story of the area’s culture and history.