The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects western Russia with the Urals and Siberia, the Caucasus and Ukraine, and the M4 highway (Moscow–Voronezh–Rostov-on-Don–Novorossiysk).

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).

[15][16][17][18] For many years, the hypothesis of the Soviet historian Vladimir Zagorovsky dominated: he produced the toponym "Voronezh" from the hypothetical Slavic personal name Voroneg.

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.

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).

The historian believes that the main "city" of the early town-planning complex could repeat the name of the region – Voronezh.

[18][23] In [1] it is assumed that the word "Voronezh" means bluing - a technique to increase the corrosion resistance of iron products.

[non sequitur] Folk etymology claims the name comes from combining the Russian words for raven (ворон) and hedgehog (еж) into Воронеж.

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 slave raids of the Nogai and Crimean Tatars.

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.

During World War II, Voronezh was the scene of fierce fighting between Soviet 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 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.

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.

In 1989, TASS published details of an alleged UFO landing in the city's park and purported encounters with extraterrestrial beings reported by a number of children.

[30] Today Voronezh is the economic, industrial, cultural, and scientific center of the Central Black Earth Region.

The fairy tale replica city will feature the houses of Kai and Gerda, the palace of the snow queen, an ice rink, and illumination.

[47] In the city prison there were only settlements of military men: Streletskaya, Kazachya, Belomestnaya atamanskaya, Zatinnaya and Pushkarskaya.

[48] The posad population received the territory between the ostrog and the river, where the Monastyrskaya settlements (at the Assumption Monastery) was formed.

[49] Voronezh experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb) with long, cold winters and warm to hot summers.

Destinations served direct from Voronezh include Moscow, Kyiv, Kursk, Novorossiysk, Sochi, and Tambov.

There are three bus stations in Voronezh that connect the city with destinations including Moscow, Belgorod, Lipetsk, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, and Astrakhan.