Voronezh is a large city in southwestern Russia, located on the river of the same name. The town’s history dates to 1586, when a wooden border fortress was built as protection against threats from the Crimean Tatars. A larger structure was built in 1594, but it lost its military significance in the mid-17th century, when Russia’s border was shifted south and away from the area. The city grew when Peter the Great established a shipyard in Voronezh in 1696 to build a fleet for the conquest of Ottoman Azov. Along with the shipyard and shipbuilding, many other manufacturing enterprises arose in Voronezh. Russia conquered Azov, and the shipyard could already be moved further south in 1705, thereby reducing Voronezh’s strategic and military importance.

In the first half of the 19th century, Voronezh developed into an economic and cultural center in south-western Russia, and it was especially the trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs that brought prosperity to the city, where several cultural institutions were established. With the opening of the railway to Moscow in 1868 and Rostov in 1871, the city achieved new growth with the easier possibilities of transport.

At the end of the century, Voronezh had more than 80,000 inhabitants, and that number increased continuously throughout the 20th century, when the city became home to many industrial plants in the early years of the Soviet Union. Germany occupied Voronezh for 212 days from 1942 until the city’s liberation in 1943. Almost 10% of the city’s 350,000 inhabitants were dead or deported to Germany, and large parts of the city were destroyed after the occupation. The most important architectural works in Voronezh were rebuilt, while the rest were rebuilt in socialist classicism.

Today, Voronezh is a modern city due to Germany’s invasion of Russia during World War II, where the fighting in the city destroyed 92% of Voronezh. The city was quickly rebuilt, and today you can also see some of the most important historical buildings such as the Cathedral of the Annunciation/Благовещенский собор. The cathedral is one of the largest in Russia and was rebuilt in 1998-2009 as a replacement for the former church, which had been destroyed in 1942. Just south of the cathedral you can see the city’s famous railway building, built in 1929-1930 with the tower, which quickly became a landmark for Voronezh.

The Soviet center of the city is south of the cathedral and around Lenin Square/Площадь Ленина. The square is an architectural ensemble from the 1950s, where Soviet architects rebuilt the center of Voronezh according to large-scale plans. The ensemble includes the Soviet administration building Dom Sovetov, which today houses the government of the Voronezh region, the city’s scientific library, the Opera and Ballet Theater and several other administrative and residential buildings. From the square you can also take a walk in the park at Koltsovskij Square/Колцовский сквер, which is an extension of Lenin Square.

You should also take a trip to the Voronezh River east of the center. Here you can go to the large landscaped Admiralty Square/Адмиральтейская площадь, which lies along the river bank. The square was inaugurated on 7 September 1996 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. In memory of the fleet, a rostral column and a triumphal arch were dedicated, and the ensemble also included the Admiralty Ascension Church/Успенский Адмиралтейский храм, built in the 17th century. You can also see the museum ship Goto Predestinatsiya/Гото Предестинация. The ship is a historical replica of a warship from the time of Peter the Great.