Voronezh is a city of around one million people on the Don River, roughly 500 km south of Moscow. Founded in 1585 as a military outpost, it later became the birthplace of the Russian Navy — Peter the Great chose it as the site where Russia's first fleet was built in the 1690s. That naval heritage sits at the heart of the city's identity, most dramatically expressed in the full-size replica of the Goto Predestination, Peter's 58-gun flagship, moored on the Don.
Today Voronezh is the largest city in the Black Earth region, a prosperous agricultural and industrial hub that often goes overlooked by foreign travellers. It has broad Soviet-era boulevards, a handful of worthwhile museums — including a strong Fine Arts Museum and a Regional Museum with remarkable Scythian gold — and a lively student population that shows in its cafes and nightlife. The Annunciation Cathedral, rebuilt in 2009, now dominates the skyline.
The city was almost completely destroyed in World War II and suffered severe fighting during the German advance in 1942–43. Much of what visitors see today was rebuilt in the post-war decades, though some older architecture survived in the city centre. The Voronezh Reservoir to the north offers summer beaches and sailing that Muscovites sometimes forget Russian cities have.