Voronezh has long been called the intellectual center of central Russia and the capital of the Black Earth Region – the intelligentsia has always played a significant role in the life of the city, where today about 100 thousand students study and seven large state universities operate. However, the federal media noticed Voronezh only in 2011-2013. The city began to be called the new cultural capital of Russia – the annual Platonov Arts Festival appeared in the region, and the famous producer and theater director Eduard Boyakov, who brought modern theater to Perm several years earlier, came to instill in Voronezh residents a taste for contemporary art. Boyakov’s projects were curtailed in May 2015, but the impulse remained – a new audience was born in provincial Voronezh, for the sake of which new cultural spaces are still being opened, parks are being restored, more and more festivals are being organized and, in general, making the urban environment more and more comfortable. We will tell you below where to go to get the most complete impression of Voronezh.
The easiest way to get to Voronezh is from Moscow – several branded trains, including double-deckers, run between the cities daily. Several airlines operate regular flights from Moscow to Voronezh. The cheapest ticket costs 2,500 rubles, and the flight lasts 1 hour 20 minutes. Also, residents of Lipetsk, Kursk, Orel, Belgorod, Tula and other cities in central Russia come to the capital of the Black Earth Region for the weekend.
The approximate travel budget for one person is from 3,500 rubles.*
- Round train tickets from 1,600 rubles*;
- 1 night in a hostel – from 320 rubles* or in a 3* hotel – from 1,080 rubles*;
- The average bill in a cafe is 400 rubles;
- Walks around the city, travel on public transport, souvenirs – 800 rubles.
Monument to the DNA molecule
You can start your walk around Voronezh right from the Voronezh-1 railway station. Guests of the city can walk along the wide Mira Street, lined with majestic buildings in the Stalinist Empire style. It will lead tourists to an unusual monument to Soviet science, cast in the shape of a DNA molecule or a Möbius strip. Next to the monument is the Orlyonok park. Previously, the park had many attractions; now it is undergoing reconstruction, but you can still relax on the benches in the shade of the chestnut trees. In front of the park there is a monument to the poet Osip Mandelstam, who lived in exile in Voronezh for three years.
Where: intersection of Mira, Friedrich Engels and Feoktistov streets.
Revolution Avenue
Revolution Avenue is the main street of the city. Perhaps the largest number of architectural monuments from different centuries are concentrated here. The Bristol Hotel building is one of the few surviving monuments of the Art Nouveau era in the city. The bright red-orange house, decorated with tiled mosaics, is a former hotel where Mayakovsky, Ostrovsky and Bunin stayed, built at the end of the 19th century. Yellow House No. 22 is the residence of the last Voronezh pre-revolutionary governor. By the way, the governor himself and the ball in his house are mentioned in Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” An attentive tourist will also notice a small blue building in the center of the street – there, at the beginning of the 20th century, the editorial office of the newspaper “Commune” was located, where young Andrei Platonov worked. And at the beginning of the avenue there is a monument to the great writer. Today the avenue attracts city residents with many cafes and restaurants for every taste. During the holidays, it is on Revolution Avenue that traffic is blocked so that the “Immortal Regiment” on May 9, a parade of street theaters on Russia Day, or a dozen open concerts on City Day can march along the main city artery.
Puppet theater. Monument to White Beam
The Voronezh State Puppet Theater “Shut” named after Volkhovsky deserves special mention. Four Voronezh architects who worked on the theater building project were awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation immediately after construction was completed in 1984. This is the only theater in Russia that has its own museum, where all the puppets of performances removed from the repertoire are stored. Today the theater has two stages, one of which is designed for 24 small spectators – performances of category 0+ are staged here. The building is unusual on the outside and beautiful on the inside. There is a walk-through cage running through two floors of the theater where songbirds live. In the courtyard of the theater there are sculptures of characters from popular Russian fairy tales. In the fountain in front of the entrance you can see Thumbelina on a water lily leaf. The “puppet” ensemble is completed by a huge clock with fairy-tale characters on the wall of a neighboring building. But the main character of all tourist photographs invariably becomes White Bim Black Ear. A metal monument to the legendary setter from the book of Gabriel Troepolsky appeared in the city in 1998. The writer himself, who lived in Voronezh all his life, advised sculptors. The beam is cast in life-size. There is no pedestal at the monument – the dog sits directly on the ground, patiently waiting for its owner. His name is engraved on a plaque on the collar. The “black” ear is made of bronze.
Where: Revolution Avenue, 50.
Theater website: tyumenpuppets.ru
Kramsky Museum
The main repository of academic art in Voronezh is the Kramskoy Museum. The museum’s collections contain more than 20 thousand works: from antiquity to 20th-century art. The Egyptian collection of the Voronezh Museum is the third largest and most important in the country. Several years ago, the Egyptian hall of the museum was restored with funds from patrons. Now visitors can examine from all sides the unique sarcophagus of the royal scribe Nesipaherentahat, many ushabti figurines and other antiquities.
Where: Revolution Avenue, 18.
Museum website: mkram.ru
Opening hours:**
Mon – Tue: closed.
Wed, Sat, Sun: 10:00 – 18:00.
Thu: 12:00 – 20:00.
Fri: 11:00 – 18:00.
Chamber Theater
Turning right from Revolution Avenue, you can get to the quiet, shady pedestrian street of Karl Marx. Since 2014, the Chamber Theater has been home here, the only private theater in the city, headed by the country’s famous theater director Mikhail Bychkov. Kamerny is a multiple winner of the national theater award “Golden Mask”, a participant in many festivals, recognized by critics as one of the ten best provincial theaters in the country. The theater building itself is constantly among the nominees and winners of various architectural and design awards. To get to the theater, you don’t have to buy a ticket to a performance: Kamerny has an art gallery that regularly hosts exhibitions, a theater club that hosts video screenings, and a cafe, so admission to the theater is open to everyone.
Where: st. Karl Marx, 55a.
Theater website: chambervrn.ru
Opening hours: daily from 9:00 to 20:30.
Stone Bridge
One of the most “postcard” places in Voronezh is the Stone Bridge, which appeared in the city in the 19th century. At the time of construction, it was the first brick bridge in Voronezh, but then this material was called stone, which is how the bridge got its name. The Stone Bridge is one of the few structures in Voronezh that has been preserved almost in its original form for 200 years. Today, the Stone Bridge is also called the lovers’ bridge – it is the main wedding attraction of the city. It is across this bridge that grooms carry their brides in their arms. Every weekend, celebration groups gather here to smash champagne bottles on the bridge and release doves. Previously, newlyweds hung locks with names on the metal railings of the bridge, but after reconstruction the fences were made of brick, and this became impossible. The Stone Bridge is surrounded by the Resurrection Church, the building of the former Alexandrinsky Orphanage and several other buildings built in the late 19th – early 20th centuries, which makes this place ideal for romantic photos.
Where: intersection of Karl Marx and Chernyshevsky streets.
Museum ship “Goto Predestination”
Voronezh is rightly called the “cradle” of the Russian fleet – it was here that Peter I founded the country’s first shipyard and created a fleet that fought during the Russian-Turkish War. One of the first ships launched was the 58-gun battleship Goto Predestination or God’s Foresight, created according to the design of Peter himself; the emperor personally supervised some of the work. In 2014, the Goto Predestination museum ship opened its doors in Voronezh – an exact copy of the first Peter the Great battleship. Today there is a naval museum on board; the interiors of the 17th-18th centuries have been recreated inside the ship. On holidays, the ship sets sail in the waters of the Voronezh reservoir. Filming and television series are periodically filmed on the Voronezh battleship.
Where: Admiralteyskaya Square.
Museum website: firstship.ru
Opening hours:**
Wed: 11:00 – 18:00.
Thu – Sun: 10:00 – 18:00.
Weekends: Monday, Tuesday.
Excursion start times: 10.00, 11.00, 12.00, 15.00, 16.00, 17.00.
Cost of visit: child ticket 100 rubles, adult – 200.
Central Park
Despite its name, Central Park, formerly called Dynamo, is located away from the city center. However, after a large-scale reconstruction, the park can safely be called a center of attraction and a favorite vacation spot for citizens. The park has many children’s playgrounds, catering outlets, and stables where you can ride horses. During the warm season, almost every evening there are concerts and performances at the Green Theater, the largest open-air auditorium in Voronezh.
Where: st. Lenina, 10.
Photo: Tuna tataki at the BKWSK bar
Where to have lunch
Voronezh has many cafes and restaurants to suit every taste and budget. In recent years, Komissarzhevskaya Street has become the center of gastronomic tourism, which is now often compared to the famous St. Petersburg Dumskaya Street. Here you can find the Olen dumpling bar, the BKWSK and Vyshka bars, the Pushka summer courtyard, the Dja+GO restaurant, the Ptichka coffee shop, the Pita-tochka snack bar, and the Zhigulevsky restaurant-bar. For the best desserts in the city, feel free to head to the Sugar Bakeshop confectionery (Taranchenko, 29),
for coffee – go to the Perfetto Cafe chain, and to taste interesting cuisine – at JUST Bar&Kitchen (Pushkinskaya, 1).
Photo: Summer yard “Cannon”
The favorite places of fashionable Voronezh youth are the “Pushka” courtyard, the Petrovsky book club (20 Let VLKSM Street, 54a) and Petrovsky Square on Revolution Avenue, the art space “Dom” (Revolution Avenue, 46). At these points there are open-air film and cartoon screenings, meetings with writers and musicians, open lectures on the urban environment and art, exhibitions, as well as the best night parties in the city. If you have nothing to occupy your free evening in Voronezh, feel free to check the poster of one of these places to find yourself at the epicenter of the city’s creative movements.
Bar BKWSK: social network page.
Bar “Vyshka”: social network page.
Summer yard “Cannon”: social network page.
Petrovsky Book Club: social network page.
Art space “Home”: social network page.
* Prices for travel and accommodation are indicated at the time of writing. The cost indicated in the material and the final price may vary depending on the season and time for which tickets are purchased.
**Operating hours of organizations are indicated at the time of publication of the text. Opening hours may vary depending on the time of year.
Text author: Olesya Goryacheva
