Voronezh

 

(Rus. vərô'nyĭsh) , city (1989 pop. 887,000), capital of Voronezh region, central European Russia, on the Voronezh River. A river port and a major industrial center in a black-earth agricultural region, it has industries producing machinery, synthetic rubber, oil, and food products. A nuclear power station operates at Voronezh. Founded in 1586 as a frontier fortress against Crimean and Nogai Tatar attacks from the southern steppe, it became a shipbuilding center in the Azov campaign (1695–96) of Peter I. It has been important as a commercial and cultural center since the 1830s. During World War II it was largely destroyed (1942–43) when a German advance was stopped there; it was rebuilt completely after the war. The architectural monuments, the Nikolsk church (early 18th cent.), and the Potemkin palace (18th cent.) were restored. The Univ. of Voronezh, originally the Univ. of Tartu, was transferred there in 1918. The poet Koltsov was born at Voronezh. There are Scythian burial mounds outside the city.

Voronezh (English) Воронеж (Russian)
Location of Voronezh on the map of Russia
Coordinates 51°40′N 39°11′E / 51.667, 39.183Coordinates: 51°40′N 39°11′E / 51.667, 39.183
Coat of Arms
Administrative status
Federal subject In jurisdiction of Administrative center of	Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast
Local self-government
Charter	Charter of Voronezh
Municipal status	Urban okrug
City Head	Boris Skrynnikov (acting)
Legislative body	City Duma
Area
Area	n/a
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population - Rank - Density	inhabitants 16th n/a
Events
Founded	1586
Other information
Postal code	3940xx
Dialing code	+7 4732
Official website
http://www.voronezh-city.ru/

Voronezh (Russian: Воро́неж) is a large city in southwestern Russia, not far from Ukraine. It is located on the Voronezh River, twelve kilometers away from the spot where the Voronezh River empties into the Don. Voronezh is the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is an important railway junction (with lines to Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Kiev), as well as the center of Don Highway (Moscow—Rostov-on-Don). Population: 848,752 (2002 Census); 660,000 (1970); 447,000 (1959); 344,000 (1939); 120,000 (1926). The city is divided into six administrative districts: Kominternovsky, Leninsky, Levoberezhny, Sovetsky, Tsentralny, and Zheleznodorozhny.

History

The Voronezh River was first mentioned in Hypatian Codex of 1177; the town was founded in 1585-1586 by Tsar Feodor I as a fort protecting the Russian state from the raids of Crimean and Nogay Tatars. However, settlements had been present here since the Stone Age.

In the 17th century, Voronezh became a considerable commercial and handicrafts centre. In 1648, an antifeudal insurrection took place in Voronezh. In 1695–1696 Tsar Peter the Great built a dockyard in Voronezh, where Azov fleet was under construction for the Azov campaign (probably the first fleet ever built in Russia). During his reign Voronezh became the largest city in southern Russia and the administrative centre of the large southern region. Since 1711 Voronezh had been a centre of Azov province, since 1725 - Voronezh province, since 1779 - Voronezh namestnichestvo, since 1824 - Voronezh province. In the 18th–19th centuries Voronezh was a centre of the chernozem agricultural region. Manufacturing industry (mills, tallow-melting, butter-making, soap, leather and other works) as well as bread, cattle, suet, and the hair trade developed in the town. In the 19th century a railway connected Voronezh with Rostov-on-Don (1868) and Moscow (1871).

Between 1991 and 2000, the city high in unemployment became a part of the Communist-voting region known as Russia's Red Belt. Today Voronezh is the economic, industrial, cultural and scientific center of the so-called Black Earth Region. In the city there are 7 theaters, 12 cinemas, 19 higher schools; it is also home to Voronezh State University. The city's large student population includes many foreigners as foreign students in Russia usually take one year of Russian language in Voronezh before moving on to universities elsewhere. This has led in the past to tension between foreign students and the indigenous population leading to a number of murders, the last one being of Peruvian student Enrique Anhelis Hurtado on October 9th 2005, a year that saw 45 reported attacks on foreigners in Voronezh.

Many famous people were born in Voronezh and the surrounding area. Among them are poets and writers such as Platonov, Bunin, Koltsov, Nikitin, Marshak, Troepolskii; painters Kramskoi, Ge, Kuprin, the physicist Cherenkov; navigator and polar explorer Valerian Albanov; gymnasts Davydova, Tkachyov; the anarchist Voline, and the surgeon Serge Voronoff. The Russian poet Osip Mandelstam was exiled to Voronezh after his arrest in 1934 and wrote a series of poems there collected under the title "Voronezh Notebooks". The famous Russian punk band Sektor Gaza was founded in Voronezh.

Not far from Voronezh is the satellite town of Novovoronezh ("New Voronezh") which serves a local nuclear power plant. Both cities are served by Chertovitskoye Airport. Voronezh is also home to Voronezh Pridacha airport, a major aircraft manufacturing facility where the the so-called Concordski Tupolev Tu-144 was built and the only operational one is still stored. Voronezh also hosts Voronezh Malshevo air force base southwest of the city, which aparently houses nuclear bombers.

Further reading

Charlotte Hobson's book, "Black Earth City", is an accessible and insightful account of life in Voronezh in the early 1990s. She wrote the book after spending a year in Voronezh as a foreign student in 1991-1992.

Nadezhda Mandelstam's Hope Against Hope, the first volume of her memoirs concerning the dreadful fate of her husband, the poet Osip Mandelstam, provides many details about life and hardship in Voronezh in the 1930s under Stalinist rule.

And from the mid-nineteenth century is the diary of a British soldier, a sergeant in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, published as "Prisoners of Voronesh (sic)". George Newman was captured in the Crimean War and then marched under a loose guard with a motley crew of PoWs, convicts, etc., to Voronezh. Published by Unwin in 1977, it is a vivid eyewitness account of life and types, instantly recognizable to anyone who has spent much time in that delightful city.

Twin Cities

• - Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
• - Brno, Czech Republic
• - Chongqing, China

External links

• Voronezh (Russian)
• Voronezh.net (Russian)

	Cities and towns in Voronezh Oblast
	Administrative center: Voronezh Bobrov | Boguchar | Borisoglebsk | Buturlinovka | Ertil | Kalach | Liski | Novokhopyorsk | Novovoronezh | Ostrogozhsk | Pavlovsk | Povorino | Rossosh | Semiluki

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