Dobrovskiy district combines a distinctive river landscape with protected forest and floodplain habitats. Churches and monuments in its villages also provide historical points of reference. Those weighing nature against culture can get to know the district through these different highlights.

The Voronezh and Dobrovsky Nature Reserve

The Dobrovsky Nature Reserve stretches as a two-kilometre-wide zone along both banks of the Voronezh River, from Krivets to Dobroye. The Voronezh flows through the area for about 55 kilometres, forming an extensive river loop. Its habitats include pine, oak and alder forests, as well as floodplain marshes and meadows, lakes and rivers. Thus, the landscape features not only the river itself but also different types of forest and wet floodplains. The reserve was established in 1976 as the first landscape protection area in Lipetsk Oblast.

Churches and memorials

In the village of Bolshoy Khomutets, two memorials take centre stage. An eagle sculpture mounted on a stone stands in the central square. It was erected in 2021 and commemorates historical events of the 17th century. There is also a stele in the village centre honouring the heroes of the First World War. Together, the two monuments direct attention from the events of the 17th century to remembrance of the First World War.

In the village of Dobroye, the stone, two-altar Kazan Church stands in Chudovskaya Sloboda. Built in 1869 to replace an earlier church, it is state-protected as an architectural monument of regional significance. It was restored and returned to religious services in 1989. The Trinity Church in Bolshoy Khomutets was built in 1892 with funds from parishioners. The Dobrovsky Local History Museum is also part of local cultural history: it opened on 22 March 1989.

Nature and culture in Lipetsk Oblast

In the wider regional context of Lipetsk Oblast, the “Galichya Gora” Nature Reserve represents a different type of natural landscape. It consists of six separate sections surrounded by developed and agricultural land. The protected area preserves forest-steppe communities and groups of rock-dwelling plants on Devonian limestone outcrops in the valleys of the Don, the Bystraya Sosna and their tributaries. Shaped by water and wind, the Devonian limestone cliffs rise above the right bank of the Don in the centre of Lipetsk Oblast. Compared with the forests and floodplains of the Voronezh, limestone, rock vegetation and several river valleys come to the fore here.

The Lipetsk Regional Museum of Natural History is located on the central estate of the nature reserve and is visited by thousands of day-trippers every year. The open-air area includes an alpine plant garden with rare species, a breeding station for birds of prey and a medicinal herb garden. Check current visitor access to this area before your trip. The cultural heritage of Lipetsk Oblast also includes a distinctive tradition: Yelets lace is one of the region’s seven ancient crafts and traditions listed in the Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

More destinations

Discover more destinations: Zadonsky District, Zadonskiy rayon, Yelets, Zadonsky District, Lipetsk, Gryazinsky District, Stanovlyanskiy rayon, Lipetskiy rayon.

Back to the regional travel overview: Lipetsk Oblast.