Trip to Odessa

The most noteworthy and picturesque attraction of southern Ukraine is undoubtedly the sparkling city of Odessa, often called the “southern gateway to Ukraine.” From your very first steps in the city, Odessa will seize your attention and nurture a growing infatuation that will linger long after your departure, haunting you with fits of nostalgia.

Odessa differs strikingly from all other places you may have visited in Eastern Europe.

For its more than 200 years of recorded history it has funnelled and sieved a great multitude of cultures and influences through its streets.

A principle southern outlet first for the Russian Empire, then for the Soviet Union and later modern-day Ukraine, Odessa has always been well connected with the outside world. It was the first city in the region to develop a large trade turnover.

Odessa quickly grew to become the third largest city in the Russian empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow. The city’s rapid economic growth attracted masses of people seeking employment and business opportunities. Odessa’s entrepreneurial spirit has been a primary fixture of the city’s culture throughout the centuries. Even the Soviets could not entirely stamp out private business dealings, often carried out behind tightly shut doors.

The local bazaar, “Privoz,” symbolized resistance to the externally imposed command economy and was a kind of free-market oasis. Salty dog crewmen who sailed foreign seas brought – not always legally – forbidden fruits of capitalism such as vinyl records, Levi jeans, Japanese tape players, chewing gum, etc., all officially banned and denounced by the Communist Party.

The city is well known in the Russian speaking world for its characteristic local accent.

Odessa is also famous for its sense of humor. Odessites love nothing more than to exchange witticisms, no matter what the occasion. Whenever you hear the phrase, “as they say in Odessa…”, get ready to hear a hilarious anecdote.

Odessa is home to people from all over the world. Here, both the American teacher of English and the Arab student of Russian will find their senses roused and their mind enlivened. To be in Odessa is to be both in the City of Pushkin and the City of the Mafia. Odessa’s past is indelibly etched upon its present.

At one extreme is the 7-kilometer-long market, a veritable city of trade where a week may be spent roaming endless pathways through tall stacks of steel containers containing all your heart’s desires and the people selling them.

At another extreme is the “second” (as the people will constantly remind you) most beautiful opera house in the world, where you can listen to Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” or watch the Nutcracker ballet.

Not despite these differences but rather because of them, few visitors can resist Odessa’s intoxicating influence. A heady mix of class, elegance, and an intense desire to live life to the fullest can be felt throughout the city.

Whether you spend a night at “Itaka” nightclub, take a jog along the Black Sea shore, stroll through Shevchenko Park, or pass an evening with friends on Deribasovskaya Street, Odessa never fails to work its unique magic, enchanting the heart and leaving you forever longing to return.

Must See Sights in Odessa:

Potemkin Stairs

The Potemkin Stairs were depicted in the classic film Battleship Potemkin (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein. Here is where the massacre of civilians took place. Many may remember the sequence where a young woman with a baby stroller is fleeing the shooting squad. As she is shot she gives the carriage a push down the Potemkin steps in an attempt to save her child… What a heart-rending scene!

In fact, the famous 192 steps, among other things, are of singular historical value, having been built by Count Mikhail Vorontsov, Russia’s most prominent chancellor, statesman and diplomat of the 18th century.

He also built the world-famous Vorontsov Palace in Livadia, where Sir Winston Churchill resided during the Yalta Conference of 1945.

The beautiful Potemkin Stairs were Vorontsov’s lavish gift to the city that he loved so much. The locals will tell you that walking up the stairs on foot brings good luck. Just imagine how lucky the Odessites must be!

Under the supervision of the famous architect F. Boffo, it took four years (1837-1841) and about 1000 rubles to complete the Potemkin Stairs.

They measure 137 meters long and 27 meters high and are built in the classicism style.

The sweeping view of the sea and shoreline from the top of the Stairs is simply magnificent!

Within a few minutes’ walk from the Stairs are most of Odessa’s main attractions that are not to be missed. As you visit each sight, you will actually feel as though you were moving through the rooms of a beautiful and lovingly kept home. It is so cozy and welcoming!

Deribasovskaya Street

A hallmark of the city, this cobblestone heart of Odessa, now closed to traffic, abounds in beautiful old architecture, exquisite yet inexpensive restaurants and cafés, and open-air galleries of arts and crafts displayed by their authors.

Then there is the beautiful City Garden with its colourful “singing fountains,” quaint park benches, and well-dressed visitors strolling leisurely through the grounds.

Deribasovskaya is a great place to experience for yourself the “Odessa state of mind.”

Opera House

In Odessa people will tell you that their gorgeous neo-baroque opera house is, if not the handsomest in the world, then at least is the second most beautiful, after the one in Rome.

As a matter of fact, this is not far from the truth. Odessa’s Theatre of Opera and Ballet is one of those architectural marvels of international distinction where you can spend an entire day marveling at the perfect lines and clever construction conceived by French architect Thomas de Thomon (1809) and, later, after the fire of 1873, Viennese architects G. Gelmer and F. Felmer, who had previously built theatres in Vienna, Budapest and Zagreb. The five-level Rococo style hall can comfortably seat over 1500 spectators, including, naturally, yourself.

Other top sights

Among other top sights visited by over 100 thousand tourists annually are:

Trinity Church (1808, Classicism)
St.Paul Church (1897, Romanesque style)
Belvedere Palace (1826-1828)
Marine Museum (1841, by H. Torichelli, Classicism/Renaissance)

Monuments to city founder Duke A. Richelieu (1828, by I. Martos), authors A. Pushkin (1889), and L. Tolstoy (1968), whose lives were closely interwoven with Odessa, as were those of George Simeon, Adam Mickiewicz, James Aldridge, and Dmitri Mendeleev, who here conceived his periodic table of the chemical elements.

Odessa’s beach and nightlife, though, are second to none. These we encourage you to experience for yourself! Enjoy your time in Odessa!

Written by incurable Odessa enthusiasts Andriy Kononenko (NovaMova, Kiev), Zack Spear and Joanna Engelhardt.