Voronezh

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Voronezh

Воронеж

City[1]

View of Voronezh

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Location of Voronezh
Voronezh

Location of Voronezh

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Coordinates:  51°40′18″N 39°12′38″ECoordinates:  51°40′18″N 3

9°12′38″E

Country Russia

Federal subject Voronezh Oblast[1]

Founded 1585[2] or much earlier[3]

City status since 1585[4]

Government

 • Body City Duma

 • Mayor Vadim Kstenin

Area

[5]

 • Total 601 km2 (232 sq mi)

Elevation 154 m (505 ft)

Population

 • Estimate  1,047,549

(2018)[6]

Demonym(s) none

Administrative status

 • Subordinated to Voronezh Urban Okrug[1]

 • Capital of Voronezh Oblast[1], Voronezh Urban

Okrug[1]

Municipal status

 • Urban okrug Voronezh Urban Okrug[7]

 • Capital of Voronezh Urban Okrug[7]

 Time zone UTC+3 (MSK  [8]
)

Postal code(s)[9] 394000–394095

Dialing code(s) +7 473[10]

OKTMO ID 20701000001

City Day Third Saturday of September[11]

Website www.voronezh-city.ru

Voronezh (Russian: Воронеж, IPA: [vɐˈronʲɪʂ]) is a city and the administrative

centre of Voronezh Oblast, Russia, straddling the Voronezh River and located 12 kilometers
(7.5 mi) from where it flows into the Don. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which
connects European Russia with the Urals and Siberia, the Caucasus and Ukraine, and the M4
highway (Moscow–Voronezh–Rostov-on-Don–Novorossiysk). Its population in 2020 was
estimated to be 1,058,261,[12] up from 889,680 recorded in the 2010 Census;[13] it is the thirteenth
most populous city in the country.

Contents

History[edit]
See also: Timeline of Voronezh

Foundation and name[edit]

Center of Voronezh. Voronezh River

The first chronicle references to the word "Voronezh" are dated 1177, when the Ryazan prince
Yaropolk, having lost the battle, fled "to Voronozh" and there was moving "from hail into hail."
Modern data of archeology and history interpret Voronezh as a geographical region, which
included the Voronezh river (tributary of the Don) and a number of settlements. In the lower
reaches of the river, a unique Slavic town-planning complex of the 8th – early 11th century was
discovered, which covered the territory of the present city of Voronezh and its environs (about
42 km long, about 13 forts and many unfortified villages). By the 12th – 13th centuries, most of
the old “hails” were desolate, but new settlements appeared upstream, closer to Ryazan.[14][15][16][17]
For many years, the hypothesis of the Soviet historian Vladimir Zagorovsky dominated: he
produced the toponym "Voronezh" from the hypothetical Slavic personal name Voroneg. This
man allegedly gave the name of a small town in the Chernigov Principality (now the village of
Voronezh in Ukraine[18]). Later, in the XI or XII centuries, the settlers were able to "transfer" this
name to the Don region, where they named the second city Voronezh, and the river got its
name from the city.[19][20] However, now many researchers criticize the hypothesis, since in reality
neither the name of Voroneg nor the second city was revealed, and usually the names of
Russian cities repeated the names of the rivers, but not vice versa.
The linguistic comparative analysis of the name "Voronezh" was carried out by the Khovansky
Foundation in 2009. There is an indication of the place names of many countries in Eurasia,
which may partly be not only similar in sound, but also united by common Indo-European
languages: Varanasi, Varna, Verona, Brno, etc.[21]
A comprehensive scientific analysis was conducted in 2015–2016 by the historian Pavel Popov.
His conclusion: "Voronezh" is a probable Slavic macrotoponym associated with outstanding
signs of nature, has a root voron- (from the proto-Slavic vorn) in the meaning of "black, dark"
and the suffix -ezh (-azh, -ozh). It was not “transferred” and in the 8th - 9th centuries it marked a
vast territory covered with black forests (oak forests) - from the mouth of the Voronezh river to
the Voronozhsky annalistic forests in the middle and upper reaches of the river, and in the west
to the Don (many forests were cut down). The historian believes that the main "city" of the early
town-planning complex could repeat the name of the region – Voronezh. Now the hillfort is
located in the administrative part of the modern city, in the Voronezh upland oak forest. This is
one of Europe's largest ancient Slavic hillforts, the area of which – more than 9 hectares – 13
times the area of the main settlement in Kyiv before the baptism of Rus.[17][22]
In [2] it is assumed that the word "Voronezh" means bluing - a technique to increase the
corrosion resistance of iron products. This explanation fits well with the proximity to the ancient
city of Voronezh of a large iron deposit and the city of Stary Oskol.
Folk etymology claims the name comes from combining the Russian words for raven (ворон)
and hedgehog (еж) into Воронеж. According to this explanation two Slavic tribes named after
the animals used this combination to name the river which later in turn provided the name for a
settlement. There is not believed to be any scientific support for this explanation.
In the 16th century, the Middle Don basin, including the Voronezh river, was gradually
conquered by Muscovy from the Nogai Horde (a successor state of the Golden Horde), and the
current city of Voronezh was established in 1585 by Feodor I as a fort protecting the Muravsky
Trail trade route against the raids of the Nogai and Crimean Tatars. The city was named after
the river.[2]

17th to 20th centuries[edit]

A monument to Peter the Great

Voronezh. Ship Museum Goto Predestinatsia

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In the 17th century, Voronezh gradually evolved into a sizable town. Weronecz is shown on
the Worona river in Resania in Joan Blaeu's map of 1645.[23] Peter the Great built a dockyard in
Voronezh where the Azov Flotilla was constructed for the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696.
This fleet, the first ever built in Russia, included the first Russian ship of the line, Goto
Predestinatsia. The Orthodox diocese of Voronezh was instituted in 1682 and its first
bishop, Mitrofan of Voronezh, was later proclaimed the town's patron saint.

View of Voronezh in the 18th century

Owing to the Voronezh Admiralty Wharf, for a short time, Voronezh became the largest city of
South Russia and the economic center of a large and fertile region. In 1711, it was made the
seat of the Azov Governorate, which eventually morphed into the Voronezh Governorate.
In the 19th century, Voronezh was a center of the Central Black Earth 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. A railway connected Voronezh
with Moscow in 1868 and Rostov-on-Don in 1871.
During World War II, Voronezh was the scene of fierce fighting between Russian and combined
Axis troops. The Germans used it as a staging area for their attack on Stalingrad, and made it a
key crossing point on the Don River. In June 1941, two BM-13 (Fighting machine #13 Katyusha)
artillery installations were built at the Voronezh excavator factory. In July, the construction
of Katyushas was rationalized so that their manufacture became easier and the time of volley
repetition was shortened from five minutes to fifteen seconds. More than 300 BM-13 units
manufactured in Voronezh were used in a counterattack near Moscow in December 1941. In
October 22, 1941, the advance of the German troops prompted the establishment of a defense
committee in the city. On November 7, 1941, there was a troop parade, devoted to the
anniversary of the October Revolution. Only three such parades were organized that year: in
Moscow, Kuybyshev, and Voronezh. In late June 1942, the city was attacked by German and
Hungarian forces. In response, Soviet forces formed the Voronezh Front. By July 6, the German
army occupied the western river-bank suburbs before being subjected to a fierce Soviet
counter-attack. By July 24 the frontline had stabilised along the Voronezh River as the German
forces continued southeast into the Great Bend of the Don. The attack on Voronezh
represented the first phase of the German Army's 1942 campaign in the Soviet Union,
codenamed Case Blue.
Until January 25, 1943, parts of the Second German Army and the Second Hungarian
Army occupied west part of Voronezh. During Operation Little Saturn, the Ostrogozhsk–
Rossosh Offensive, and the Voronezhsko-Kastornenskoy Offensive, the Voronezh Front
exacted heavy casualties on Axis forces. On January 25, 1943, Voronezh was liberated after
ten days of combat. During the war the city was almost completely ruined, with 92% of all
buildings destroyed.