Odessa Travel Guide.
Odessa has attracted visitors from around the world since its foundation. Today, Odessa is one of the largest and most beautiful cities in East Europe. Located on the coast of the Black Sea, Ukraine, Odessa is a major industrial and cultural center, and it is very different from other Ukrainian cities.
Deribasovskaya Street
Located in the heart of Odessa City, Deribasovskaya Street is but the most famous attraction in Ukraine and it welcomes tourists from all over the world. In 1811, the street was named after Joseph de Ribas, Odessa’s first mayor, whose residence was located on the street.
A stroll down Deribasovskaya Street can be an exciting journey through time and space. There are lots of charming historic buildings framing the authentic cobblestone walkway interspersed with beautiful flowerbeds and small groves. Here you can marvel at the building, where Alexander Pushkin – a world-famous Russian poet – worked since 1823 until 1825.
Passazh Hotel, one of Odessa’s most beautiful baroque style buildings, is found at the intersection of Deribasovskaya and Preobrazhenskaya Street. Designed by Lev Vlodek, a Polish architect, the building features beautiful décor elements performed by sculptors T. Fishel and S. Milman.
City Garden
The City Garden, formerly referred to as Deribasovsky Garden, is one of Odessa’s brightest sights, and it has become the center point in the lives of many Odessites. This is just another wealthy gift to the city from Felix De Ribas, Joseph De Ribas’s brother. It just happened so that Felix’s house faced a swath of vacant land, which he decided to turn into a green oasis. Today, in what was once a piece of waste land, we can see a beautiful garden with a fountain, flowerbeds, and benches. It is here that Odessites and tourists arrive each day to marvel at and buy colorful pictures by local artists. It is here that you can sit down on the twelfth chair belonging to madam Petukhova, Kisa Vorobyaninov’s mother-in-law, from “The Twelve Chairs”, the famous satirical novel by Ilf and Petrov. Why not start reading it right here? Finally, it is in this beautiful garden that Eleganza Apartment Hotel is located. Check in and you are welcome in Odessa - the Pearl of the Black Sea and at our unique private hotel, which is found next to Steak House, one of the best restaurants in Odessa.
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Odessa Opera Theater
If you continue down Deribasovskaya Street toward the sea, you will arrive at one of the City’s most fascinating attractions – the Odessa National Academical and Ballet Theater. No other Ukrainian theater equals the Odessa Opera Theater in significance. The original building was erected in 1810, and it was destroyed by fire in 1873. The building we can see nowadays was designed in 1887 by Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, famous Austria architects, and performed in Vienna Baroque style. Like many European opera houses built in the time when Vienna Baroque was mainstream, Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater features a horseshoe shape auditorium with spacious galleries and lobby and multi-layer stairways. The auditorium’s is spanned by massive metal joists, and its exceptional acoustics makes whispering audible in its remotest corners. The stunningly beautiful auditorium features impressive rococo-finished walls, columns, arcs and balconies with gilded décor elements that match the walls perfectly. The giant chandelier hanging down from the ceiling is surrounded by pictures of the most renowned Shakespeare scenes. The Odessa Opera Theater underwent a massive renovation a few years ago. It was completed in 2007. The Theater’s comprehensive repertoire includes La Traviata, Carmen, Rigoletto, the Sleeping Beauty, etc.
Pale Royal Garden (Palais Royal Garden near Opera House)
Adjacent to the Odessa Opera Theater and concealed within the rectangle of buildings is the internal Pale Royal garden. It is not visible from the square or nearby streets and many tourists do not even know it is there. The Pale Royal Garden is located in what used to be the Platzparade, which was later moved to Sobornaya Square. Then the former Platzparade was framed by bazaar buildings on the other three sides. It was the time when drawing parallels with Paris was the craze of the day in Odessa, so the townfolk called the place Pale Royal. The buildings were designed by G. I. Torichelli and erected in 1842-1843. This old trading complex is not there, and chances are the buildings we see here today rest on the bazaar’s foundation.
Nowadays, Pale Royal is the quietest and coziest square in Odessa. As part of major Odessa-Vienna cooperation program, the Pale Royal garden is in for reconstruction aimed at creation of a specific Vienna style garden.
If you ever walk into this beautiful garden and decide to spend a while in the shade of its trees, please, visit the Salieri Art Coffee House. This is the place where Odessa’s first vernisages of art would take place. The opening of the small art gallery in the coffee house has revived the old odessit tradition of painting ideas and feelings for each other.
Primorsky Boulevard
Actually, if you are intent on knowing Odessa better, Primorsky Boulevard is the best place to start with. Located on the cuspate shore, Primorsky Boulevars is a kind of open air museum, which creates an ultimate historic picture and carries you back to city’s earliest days. Here you can stroll down the alleyways once frequented and enjoyed by N. V. Gogol, V. Belinsky and other famous people.
In the southern part of the Boulevard there are the City Duma Building, Londonskaya Hotel, Marine Palace and the monument to A. S. Pushkin. Two semicircular buildings form a square in the center of the boulevard.
The famous Vorontsovsky Palace is situated in the northern part of Primorsky Boulevard, right on the edge of the seaside hill in the place where the Turkish Hajibei Fortress stood. Erected in 1827, Vorontsovsky Palace became the most vivid manifestation of the nineteenth century Empire style.
The renowned Potemkin Stairs is the boulevard’s grand entrance. It connects the city port and seaport buildings with the rest of the city. The construction of the stairs began in 1825 and it was not until 1841 that it was finished. The stairs gets its name from the soviet movie ‘Battleship Potemkin’. Its length is 142 meters and it consists of 192 steps.
The monument to Duke de Richelieu is just another great attraction of Primorsky Boulevard. Duke de Richelieu is considered to be the city’s founder and first governor. It was due to his efforts that Odessa became a major trading point and began to develop as a port city. Erected shortly after the governor’s death, the statue has been around since 1828. Placed on a square pedestal right in front of the Potemkin Stairs, the bronze statue faces the sea.
If you have grown tired of roaming the city’s downtown area and there are still lots of sights to see, you can have a decent meal at the Boulevard Odessa restaurant located near the statue.
Privoz Market
Privoz Market is a must-see place in Odessa for ardent shoppers. Compared to markets in other cities, it is enormous and is believed to be one of the world’s biggest ones. Indeed, visiting Privoz market is not like visiting a usual market. Odessan Privoz Market is a kind of rendezvouse for trading cultures of the world. The market started from the so called Stary Bazaar - Odessa’s first official trading spot, and it gave rise to what we today refer to as Privoz Market. Today, you can buy both food and non-grocery goods here. Privoz Market is a place where you can read the history of trading. Here you can see both posh contemporary shops and shabby-looking vendor stalls. This is more than just a place for buying food or things. This is a specific place with its own specific culture of maintaining contact between buyers and sellers. Even pickpocketing is regarded as an integral element of life at Privoz Market; therefore, it is advisable that you be careful!
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