The Odesa Funicular ( uk, Одеський фунікулер, translit=Odeskyi funikuler) serves the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

city of

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

. Running alongside the

Potemkin Stairs , location = , address2 = , owner = , coordinates = , place_type = Stairs , construction = 1837–1841 , open = 1841 , steps = 192 , height = 27 m , surface = granite, sandstone ...

, it connects the Primorsky Boulevard with the

Port of Odesa The Port of Odesa or Odesa Sea Port ( uk, Одеський морський порт, translit=Odeskyi morskyi port), located near Odesa, is the largest Ukrainian seaport and one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin, with a total annual tra ...

. Despite what its name suggests, in its modern state the Odesa Funicular is not technically a

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

but rather a ''double inclined lift''. The system was built by the "Skylift" from

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

History

The funicular was designed by the engineer N. I. Pyatnitsky and opened on 8 June 1902. It was equipped with two passenger cabins for 35 persons each delivered from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1969 the original system was replaced by a cascade of

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

s, which had to be closed in 1997. Then in 1998 the city council decided to restore the service, this time in the form of an inclined elevator. Construction started in the same year but was delayed until 2005, and the ropeway was reopened on 2 September 2005. Service was interrupted for much of 2016 for repairs to the Potemkin Stairs. . '' The Odesa Times'', 2016-09-27

Route

Located in the old town, the central city district, the line starts at the Primorsky Boulevard (''Primorsky Bulvar''), in which lies the upper station, close to the Opera Theater. The line and ends at Prymorska Street (''Prymorska vulytsia''), by the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

coastline. The lower station, Morsky Port, is in front of the city port and is next to the port's railway station. Originally built with a single track and a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

in the middle, it now has two

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

tracks and runs for alongside the

Potemkin Stairs , location = , address2 = , owner = , coordinates = , place_type = Stairs , construction = 1837–1841 , open = 1841 , steps = 192 , height = 27 m , surface = granite, sandstone ...

and Stambulsky Park. Each car has capacity for 12 passengers and the journey takes 3.5 minutes.

Gallery

Украина, Одесса - Потемкинская лестница 10 (cropped).jpg, The lower station and the Potemkin Stairs Украина, Одесса - Потемкинская лестница 13.jpg, The upper station Odessa funicular.JPG, The port seen from the funicular Одесса. Фуникулёр..JPG, View of a car Potjomkin Funicular 2.JPG, View of a car

Literature

*Nicolas Iljine, Bel Kaufman, Oleg Gubar: ''Odesa Memories''.

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, they have worked to assist the universit ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 2004 -

References

External links

*
Odesa City Guide: Odesa Funicular

Odesa Funicular of narrow.parovoz.com
{{Urban public transport networks and systems in Ukraine Funicular railways in Ukraine

Funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...