University Square (Voronezh)

Late 16th-17th Century

University Square - the oldest square in Voronezh , once located near the walls of the city fortress, surrounded by a moat. The walls of the fortress were two-row, wooden ( oak ). One wall was at a distance of more than a fathom (more than 2 meters) from another; they were connected by cuts. Such a design in the historical Voronezh "built books" 1670 - 1676 years . defined as “thorasa” or “tarasa”. "Tarasa" (log house) was built from logs on the principle of "four corners to the castle and to hell." Above the key log cabins, "raids" stood out, and already under them were small windows to repel attacks. "Oblama" had a gable finish, covered with tesa. In total, the height of the wall was with a modern tall two-story house.

The fortress from the University Square had two towers: Pyatnitskaya and Moscow. Each of them is more than 21 meters high. Pyatnitskaya tower was dubbed in honor of the nearby Pyatnitskaya Church. From this tower along the modern Platonov street there was a road from the city. The Moscow Tower got its name, since the road from it led to Moscow , and was once at the intersection with Volodarsky Street . In the books of 1666 and 1669, the Moscow Tower was called Pyatnitskaya or Rozhdestvenskaya (after the name of the temple), and Pyatnitskaya did not have a name.

In the XVII century, there was a market on University Square. Most of the trade was carried out along the modern Volodarsky street, but on the square itself there were bread and wood bazaars. During the processions on the square, prayers were held.

XVIII — XIX centuries

In the XVIII century, the main decoration of the square and the whole of Voronezh was the Annunciation Cathedral .

In 1774, the “regular plan” of Voronezh was approved ^[1] , according to which the central part of the city was planned in the classicist style - a three-beam scheme was used. The streets - Bolshaya Moskovskaya street (now Plekhanovskaya street ), Bolshaya Devitskaya street (now Platonov street and January 9th street ) and Pyatnitskaya or Meshchanskaya street (now Volodarsky street ) - converged in the place where the complex of the bishops' cathedral was designed by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi . In the 80s of the XVIII century, he significantly rebuilt the architectural composition of the Annunciation Cathedral. When it began, the bell tower of the temple, the tallest building and symbol of Voronezh, was erected. In 1828, the bell tower completed the fourth tier and spire.

In the Annunciation Church, the first bishop of the Voronezh diocese of Mitrofan was buried ( 1623 - 1703 ; in 1832 he was canonized). His relics were in the Archangel Cathedral, and in 1833 were transferred to the restored Annunciation Church . In 1836, the Mitrofanov monastery began to operate on the square. In the XIX century, the area was firmly entrenched in the name of Mitrofanovskaya or Monastic.

The Annunciation Cathedral attracted the attention of pilgrims, it took oaths, divine services in honor of various events. He quickly became the center of the city and religious life of Voronezh. May 11, 1886 , on the day of the celebration of the centenary of Voronezh , the Divine Liturgy , thanksgiving, procession and march of troops took place on Mitrofanovskaya Square.

In the XIX century , trade was still conducted on the square. It housed shops with icons and other goods, an inn, a hotel, a tavern, a barber, and a tavern. In the 50-60s of the XIX century, at the intersection with Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street, the building of the Spiritual Consistory was built. In the XX century , two more floors were added to it - now it is residential building No. 2.

Colorful wooden shopping malls spoiled the appearance of Mitrofanovskaya Square, so they wanted to demolish them. In 1871, the local merchant V.M. Postnikov intended to build new stone shops, a project was prepared. However, the merchant soon died. In 1909, on the orders of the City Council, all the shops except the icon shop were demolished, but new ones were not built.

XX century

Before the revolution, there was a ring of a horse-drawn city road on the square. In 1920, a square was built on the site of the former trading shops (it did not last long). When the trees were planted, they discovered a brick dungeon under the square. At this time, in the monastery itself, life was still flowing in the usual course, but in neighboring buildings there were places for prisoners (camps). During the Civil War, the monastery buildings were badly damaged, some became residential. In 1927, they tried to reconstruct.

In 1929, the Mitrofanov monastery was closed, and the cancer with the holy relics of Mitrofan was transferred to the museum. In the 1920s, it was planned to carry trams to the square, but by then the monastery had ceased to be the center of the city. According to reports in the Kommuna newspaper ^[2] dated May 8 and December 2, 1930, it followed that in the interval between Plekhanovskaya and Volodarsky streets a “housing complex” was being built with a dining room, a nursery, a conference room and public rooms. In the 30s of the XX century in the monastery buildings there were student dormitories, and the regional archive, and archive management.

During the Great Patriotic War, the monastery complex was badly damaged due to shelling and German occupation of the right bank of Voronezh . The bell tower was used as an observation point for Soviet troops. It was destroyed almost to the ground. After the war, like other temples of Voronezh, Mitrofanovsky was used for housing. In the late 40s, this area was called the "Old Town".

Initially, on the site of the Mitrofanov monastery in the postwar years, it was planned to erect a memorial in memory of the Great Patriotic War. The project was developed by academician of architecture L.V. Rudnev. It was supposed to build a museum with a rotunda and a high tower in memory of the bell tower. But in 1950, the chairman of the city executive committee, N. V. Belsky, and the chief architect of the city, N. V. Troitsky, signed an act on the construction of the building of Voronezh State University on Mitrofanovskaya Square. The area was renamed Universitetskaya.

Initially, they wanted to build a university in the classical architectural style, but in the end the project was greatly simplified. During the construction of the building, the builders again came across a dungeon. This time, local artist AM Frolov made the necessary studies of the dungeon, from which it turned out that the passageways lead to other churches. The records of the local historian have been preserved:

The walls of the well and the underground passage were built of old brick, plastered and whitewashed with chalk. At the end of the courtyard, the passage had a double metal door, which was locked with a lock on the side of the monastery ... Behind the metal door, the passage branched in three directions: one channel went towards the river, the second along Taranchenko Street, the third along Volodarsky. During the construction of the university, underground passages were opened to a length of 5-7 meters from the walls of the university, covered with rubble and concreted.

The researcher concluded that the courses were dug at the end of the XVII - beginning of the XVIII century . The moves have not been studied to date, although there have been cases of land failure on the streets of Taranchenko and Volodarsky. The construction of the university was completed in the mid-60s. Over time, University Square was built up with four- and five-story houses. Construction destroyed the cultural and historical layer related to the birth of Voronezh in the XVI - XVII centuries . Local historian A. M. Frolov managed to slightly investigate the bishops' crypts before they were built up:

In this place, the courtyard was heavily pitted with funnels, scattered bricks and the remains of rich oak coffins covered the ground ... When clearing the ground, coffins were found studded with gold and silver brocade, the remains of the dead in rich brocade garments were found in the coffins; on them were crosses and church orders. <...> In the heads of the dead were bottles of liquid. They were cast, with images of saints. <...> All the dead (the remains) were collected in one coffin and buried in the Kominternovsky cemetery ....

On the streets of Platonov and Volodarsky preserved ancient houses, which are architectural monuments and are under state protection.

A small square was set up near the university building, in which in 1975 a monument was erected to employees and students of Voronezh University who died during the Great Patriotic War .

Present

Most of the area is occupied by the carriageway - a car ring, in the center of which a flower garden is broken. In the middle is a metal pillar crowned with a ball symbolizing the planet Earth, belted with a call-inscription:

Students of the Voronezh State University in the 90s called it for its characteristic shape a monument to Chupa-chups, or simplified Chupa-chups.

University Square is the final stop for:

• trolleybuses - No. 7, 7a, 8, 4;
• fixed-route taxis - №№ 74а, 100, 366в;
• buses - No. 39 and the so-called “popular routes” - No. 8n, 11n, 14n, 44n.

Following the area are the routes for the following buses - No. 1, 1V, 5A, 27, 35, 55, 69t, 80, 95.

• Voronezh architecture
• History of Voronezh

• Voronezh region (inaccessible link)
• Almanac of Voronezh State University "University Square"
• University Square on the Yandex.Panorama service.