Etymology and origins
The Voronezh River was first mentioned in the Hypatian Codex in 1177, but human settlement on the site is attested since the Stone Age by archeological finds. Recent findings may push the city's foundation date as far back as the 4th century CE. The current official version, however, states that the present city was founded in 1585 by Feodor I as a fort protecting the Russian state from the raids of Crimean and Nogay Tatars. The city is named for the river, itself named for an earlier city destroyed by the Mongol invasion, whose name in turn was borrowed from a place name in the Principality of Chernigov, derived from the Slavic personal name Voroneg.
The comparative analysis of the title "Voronezh" was carried out in 2009. The comparative method involves the search for etymological sources not only in Russian, but also in other Indo-European languages: Anatolian,Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Italic, Hellenic, Indo-Iranian, Celtic, Armenian, and others. According to the "nominalistic method" proposed by Max M�ller, the origin of the name "Voroneg" and the name of a bird "voron" (raven) should be considered in relation to the Indo-European eponyms: Uranus, Varuna, Phoroneus, Bran the Blessed, and so on. Comparative analysis suggests the origin of the Indo-European toponyms and hydronyms Varanasi, Varna,Verona, Voronezh out of names of ancient deities of the water.
17th�20th centuries
In the 17th century, Voronezh gradually evolved into a sizable town, especially after Tsar Peter the Great built adockyard in Voronezh where the Azov Flotilla was constructed for the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696. This fleet, the first ever built in Russia, included the first Russian ship of the line, Goto Predestinatsia. The Orthodox diocese of Voronezh was instituted in 1682 and its first bishop, Mitrofan of Voronezh, was later proclaimed the town's patron saint.
View of Voronezh in the 18th
