Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Wikipedia -- Voronezh

Voronezh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of Arms


Voronezh (Russian: Воро́неж) is a large city in the south of Central Russia, not far from Ukraine. It is located on the Voronezh River, twelve kilometers away from the emptying of Voronezh River into the Don. Voronezh is the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is an important railway junction (lines to Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Kiev), as well as the center of Federal Route M4 "Kavkaz" (Moscow—Rostov-on-Don). Geographical location 51°43′N 39°16′E. 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
Voronezh River was for the first time mentioned in Hypatian Codex under 1177; the town was founded in 1585 by tsar Feodor I as a fortress protecting the Russian state from the raids of Crimean and Nogay Tatars. However, settlements had been present here since the Stone Age.


View of Voronezh in the 18th century.




In the 17th century, Voronezh became a considerable commercial and handicraft town. 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. During his reign Voronezh became the largest city of South Russia and 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 chernozem agricultural region. Manufacturing industry (mills, tallow-melting, butter-making, soap, leather and other works) as well as bread, cattle, suet, hair trade were developing in the town. In XIX century a railway connected Voronezh with Rostov-on-Don (1868) and Moscow (1871).

Now Voronezh is the economical, industrial, cultural and scientific center of the so called Black Earth Region. In the city there are 7 theaters, 12 cinemas, 19 high 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.


Old city street in Voronezh




As an industrial centre, Voronezh was integral to the Soviet aircraft construction industry, including the so-called Concordski Tupolev Tu-144.

In 1991-2000, the city high in unemployment became a part of the Communist-voting region known as Russia's Red Belt.

Many famous people were born in Voronezh and not far from it. Among them poets and writers Platonov, Bunin, Koltsov, Nikitin, Marshak, Troepolskii; painters Kramskoi, Ge, Kuprin, the physicist Cherenkov; gymnasts Davydova, Tkachyov; the anarchist Voline, etc.

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.

Around Voronezh there are a lot of kurgans and other interesting archaeological objects.

Nearby Novovoronezh ("New Voronezh") serves nuclear power plants.

Chertovitskoye airport is nearby, at Latitude/Longitude: 51.81,39.23

On October 9, 1989, an official news agency in the Soviet Union reported the landing of a UFO in Voronezh.