The major city of Voronezh, with a population of over one million, was originally founded to protect Russia’s southern borders. By the end of the 17th Century Peter the Great had made the city the centre of Russian shipbuilding and the flagship Goto Predestinatsia was built here, which has now become one of the symbols of the city. During the Second World War much of the city was destroyed, meaning the city’s architecture is now predominantly Soviet. The city is also the unofficial capital of Russia's Black Earth Region.