Lenin Square (Voronezh): history, features, buildings. Sights of the Leninsky district of the city

Voronezh is a large city of Russia, founded in the late 16th century. Here lives more than one million people. The city was badly damaged during the Second World War, in particular, its architecture. Nevertheless, in the historical center there is still something to see the curious tourist.

A lot of interesting sights can be shown to the guests of the Leninsky district. Voronezh, in general, is quite a beautiful city, the architectural appearance of which is represented by buildings from different historical eras and styles.

Voronezh and its architecture

The glorious city was founded in 1586. Since that time, none of the buildings have reached us. The oldest building in Voronezh is the complex of the Assumption (Admiralty) church, which dates from the 17th century. House Savostyanova is the oldest 3-storey building of the city.

But here are preserved dozens of architectural monuments of the XIX - early XX centuries. These are private mansions, residential and public houses. Baroque, classicism, Empire and Constructivism - monuments of all listed architectural styles can boast Voronezh. The city center is also heavily built up with beautiful, pompous and numerous buildings in the style of Stalinist neo-classical.

In administrative terms, the city is divided into 6 districts. These are the Railway, Levoberezhny, Central, Kominternovsky, Soviet and Leninsky districts. Voronezh modern also includes in its borders a number of settlements and farms that previously had the status of independent settlements.

The main sights of the Leninsky district

The Leninsky district is the smallest in Voronezh by area. It covers an area of only 1,853 hectares. Territorially it practically coincides with the historical center of the city. There are many architectural monuments and cultural sites.

Within the Leninsky district there is a local history museum, a circus, an opera house, the Literary Necropolis with the grave of the poet Alexei Koltsov, a Jewish cemetery of the 19th century and other sights. A lot of tourists and visitors of the city are attracted by the memorial complex "Chizhovsky bridgehead". The main architectural monuments of the district include the Admiralty Church (the 17th century), the building of the VGASU (the middle of the 20th century), the Resurrection Church (the 18th century).

A certain compositional center of this area is Lenin's Square. Voronezh celebrates New Year holidays and other mass events here. The area is built up mainly by the middle of the last century.

Lenin Square (Voronezh): History and General Description

The main square of the city had such a name not always. Originally it was called the Horse (in the XIX century). Here, indeed, until 1880, traded horses. Later the market of horses was moved to another place, so the square began to be called Starokonnaya.

In the photo below you can see how it looked in the early twentieth century. In 1956 this part of the city received its modern name - Lenin Square.

Voronezh, as already mentioned above, was badly damaged during the Great Patriotic War. Therefore, the central part of it is mainly built up by the buildings of the second half of the 20th century. In place of the old brick houses destroyed by the war, new ones with columns and turrets have grown. The area of Lenin was not an exception in this respect either. Voronezh can be proud of the most beautiful architectural complex in the style of the Stalin Empire. And he is on this square.

In this place several important urban arteries converge: the Revolution Avenue, the streets of Kirov, Stankevich and Kardashov. The square is decorated with two monuments: V.I. Lenin and A.V. Koltsov. The marble bust of the Russian poet Alexei Koltsov was opened in the same square in 1868.

Architectural ensemble of the square

The ensemble of Lenin Square in Voronezh is represented by 15 buildings. Almost all of them were designed and built in the 1950s.

In the area under No. 1 is the House of Soviets, in which the regional government is now located. The seven-story massive building with two wings was built almost seven years: from 1953 to 1959. According to the original draft, the House of Soviets was planned to be crowned with an elegant two-tier tower. However, in 1955 the decree of NS was issued. Khrushchev "on the elimination of architectural excesses", and the tower decided not to build.

The second most important and large-scale structure in Lenin Square is the building of the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theater. Its construction began in 1940 and lasted 20 years (with interruptions to the war). The appearance of the theater is strictly classical: the absolute symmetry of the main facade, the triangular pediment and the Corinthian columns.

The oldest in the ensemble of the square can be considered the building of the Philharmonic, built in 1908 in the Art Nouveau style, but the most spectacular is the Voronezh hotel, topped by a high metal spire with a sailboat on the tip.