Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the Odesa Raion and Odesa Oblast, as well as a multiethnic cultural centre. As of January 2021 Odesa's population was approximately In classical antiquity a large Greek settlement existed at its location. The first chronicle mention of the Slavic settlement-port of Kotsiubijiv, which was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dates back to 1415, when a ship was sent from here to Constantinople by sea. After a period of

Lithuanian Grand Duchy The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

control, the port and its surroundings became part of the domain of the Ottomans in 1529, under the name Hacibey, and remained there until the empire's defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1792. In 1794, the modern city of Odesa was founded by a decree of the Russian empress

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

. From 1819 to 1858, Odesa was a free port. During the Soviet period, it was an important trading port and a naval base. During the 19th century, Odesa was the fourth largest city of the Russian Empire, after Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Warsaw. Its historical architecture is more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in a mixture of different styles, including

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

, Renaissance and Classicist. Odesa is a warm-water port. The city of Odesa hosts both the Port of Odesa and Port Pivdennyi, a significant oil terminal situated in the city's suburbs. Another notable port, Chornomorsk, is located in the same oblast, to the south-west of Odesa. Together they represent a major transport hub integrating with railways. Odesa's oil and chemical processing facilities are connected to the Russian and other European networks by strategic pipelines. In 2000, the Quarantine Pier at Odesa Commercial Sea Port was declared a free port and free economic zone for a period of 25 years.

Name

Odessa opera house advertisement transnistria times

* en, or , link=yes * uk, Оде́са, translit=Odesa *russian: Оде́сса, translit=Odessa * yi, אָדעס, translit=Odes Odesa is sometimes called the "Pearl by the Sea", the "Southern Capital", "Odesa-mama" and "The Humour Capital", as well as "Southern Palmyra". In 1795 the city was named Odessa in accordance with the Greek Plan of Catherine the Great. Catherine's Secretary of State Adrian Gribovsky claimed in his memoirs that the name was his suggestion. Some expressed doubts about this claim, while others noted the reputation of Gribovsky as an honest and modest man. Odesa is located between the ancient Greek cities of Tyras and Olbia and it was named as a feminine form for the ancient Greek city of ''Odessos'' ( grc, Ὀδησσός). This refers to the second ancient Odessos, founded between the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th centuries BC (the first one, identified with modern Varna in Bulgaria, is the older of the two, founded c. 610 BC). The exact location of this ancient Odessos is unknown, but modern efforts have attempted to localize it 40 km northeast of Odesa, near the village of , Odesa Oblast., near the Tylihul Estuary. "Odessa" is the traditional English transliteration of the city's name, still used in the Lexico and Britannica dictionaries (but no longer in Encyclopædia Britannica) as the primary name, but "Odesa" increasingly appears in dictionaries as the primary name for the Ukrainian city. ''Odesa'' became the internationally standardized Latin-alphabet transliteration of the Ukrainian name according to the Ukrainian National romanization system ( ukr, Одеса), which was adopted for official use by Ukraine's cabinet in 2010, approved by the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names in 2012, and adopted by the BGN/PCGN in 2019. ''Odessa'', meanwhile, is the literal transliteration of the city's Russian name (russian: Одесса), which was historically favoured until Ukraine's independence (similarly to the spelling of " Kyiv" versus "Kiev"). As noted by the '' Christian Science Monitor'', many in the media historically spelled the city "Odessa", even after changing the spelling of "Kiev" to "Kyiv", but the media has been shifting to proper Ukrainian transliterations.

History

Early history

Odesa was the site of a large Greek settlement no later than the middle of the 6th century BC (a

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

from the 5th–3rd centuries BC has long been known in this area). Some scholars believe it to have been a trade settlement established by the Greek city of Histria. Whether the Bay of Odesa is the ancient "Port of the Histrians" cannot yet be considered a settled question based on the available evidence. Archaeological artifacts confirm extensive links between the Odesa area and the eastern Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages successive rulers of the Odesa region included various nomadic tribes (

Petchenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

, Cumans), the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Ottoman Empire. Yedisan Crimean Tatars traded there in the 14th century. Since the middle of the 13th century the city's territory belonged to the Golden Horde domain.Vermenych, Ya.
Odessa (ОДЕСА)
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. 2010. On Italian navigational maps of 14th century on the place of Odesa is indicated the castle of Ginestra, at the time the center of a colony of the Republic of Genoa (''more Gazaria''). At times when the Northern Black Sea littoral was controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, there existed a settlement of Kotsibijiv ( Khadjibey) which was first mentioned in 1415 in Polish chronicles by Jan Długosz — a ship with grain was shipped from Kotsiubijiv to Constantinople. By the middle of 15th century the settlement was depopulated. During the reign of

Khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

Hacı I Giray of Crimea (1441–1466), the Khanate was endangered by the Golden Horde and the Ottoman Turks and, in search of allies, the khan agreed to cede the area to Lithuania. The site of present-day Odesa was then a fortress known as Khadjibey (named for Hacı I Giray, and also spelled Kocibey in English, Hacıbey or Hocabey in

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, and Hacıbey in Crimean Tatar).

Ottoman conquest

Khadjibey came under direct control of the Ottoman Empire after 1529. In the mid-18th century, the Ottomans rebuilt the

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

at Khadjibey (also was known Hocabey), which was named ''Yeni Dünya'' (literally "New World").

Russian conquest of Sanjak of Özi (Ochakiv Oblast)

A series of wars between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the demise of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, allowed Russia to start to fully exploit the ancient Black Sea trade across the coastal area through the steppe across southern and eastern Ukraine, into the hinterland of

East Central Europe East Central Europe is the region between Germanic, West Slavic, and Hungarian-speaking Europe and the East Slavic countries of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Those lands are described as situated "between two": "between two worlds, between tw ...

. Stable commercial activity in this region in practice in the past required both security through the overland routes, and knowledge of where products could go overseas. In antiquity, various Greek colonies had taken this role, followed by the Varangians who established Kievan Rus' in the 9th century, as well as various Italian colonies after the Mongol invasion of Europe. Under Catherine the Great, Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, Russia gained the lands where Mariupol,

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

, and Mykolaiv would be founded, however, they all were handicapped in various ways relative to how much commercial interest there was. For example, the latter two cities were situated in lowlands near marshes, which provided for poor sanitary conditions in the technology available at that time. CASTELNAU(1827) p3

The sleepy fishing village of Odesa had witnessed a sea-change in its fortunes when the wealthy

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

and future Voivode of Kiev (1791), Antoni Protazy Potocki, established trade routes through the port for the ''Polish Black Sea Trading Company'' and set up the infrastructure in the 1780s. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1787–1792, on 25 September 1789, a detachment of

Russian forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the Military, military forces of Russia. In terms of Active duty, active-duty personnel, they are the List of countries by number of milita ...

, including Zaporozhian Cossacks under Alexander Suvorov and Ivan Gudovich, took Khadjibey and Yeni Dünya for the Russian Empire. One section of the troops came under command of a

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ind ...

in Russian service, Irishman Major General José de Ribas (known in Russia as Osip Mikhailovich Deribas); today, the main street in Odesa, Deribasivska Street, is named after him. Russia formally gained possession of the Sanjak of Özi (Ochakiv Oblast) as a result of the Treaty of Jassy (Iaşi) in 1792 and it became a part of Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty. The Russian Empire took full control of Crimea, as well as land between the

Southern Bug , ''Pivdennyi Buh'' , name_etymology = , image = Sunset S Bug Vinnitsa 2007 G1.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Southern Bug River in the vicinity of Vinnytsia, Ukraine , map = PietinisBug ...

and the Dniester, including the Khadzhibey Estuary where the Turkish fortress of Khadjibey was located. The newly acquired Ochakov Oblast was promised to the Cossacks by the Russian government for resettlement. On permission of the Archbishop of Yekaterinoslav Amvrosiy, the Black Sea Kosh Host, that was located around the area between Bender and Ochakiv, built second after

Sucleia Sucleia (; ) is a village in the Slobozia District of Transnistria, Moldova.rescript of 17 June 1792 addressed to General Kakhovsky it was ordered to establish the Dniester Border Line of fortresses. The commander of the land forces in Ochakiv Oblast was appointed Graf (Count) Suvorov-Rymnikskiy. The main fortress was built near Sucleia at the mouth of river Botna as the Head Dniester Fortress by Engineer-Major de Wollant. Near the new fortress saw the formation of a new "Vorstadt" (suburb) where people moved from Sucleia and Parkan. With the establishment of the Voznesensk Governorate on 27 January 1795, the Vorstadt was named Tiraspol. The Flemish engineer working for the Russian Empress

, José de Ribas's collaborator Franz de Voland recommended the area of Khadjibey fortress as the site for the region's basic port: it had an ice-free harbor, breakwaters could be cheaply constructed that would render the harbor safe and it would have the capacity to accommodate large fleets. The Namestnik of Yekaterinoslav and Voznesensk, Platon Zubov (one of Catherine's favorites), supported this proposal. In 1794 Catherine issued a Rescript to José de Ribas: "Considering favorable Khadjibey location... I order to establish here a navy harbor and trading pierce..." and invested the first money (26.000 rubles) in construction. Franz de Voland drew up a plan that would end up being the city's plan. Odessa vlasenko

However, adjacent to the new official locality, a Moldavian colony already existed, which by the end of the 18th century was an independent settlement named Moldavanka. Some local historians consider that the settlement predates Odesa by about thirty years and assert that the locality was founded by Moldavians who came to build the fortress of Yeni Dunia for the Ottomans and eventually settled in the area in the late 1760s, right next to the settlement of Khadjibey, on what later became the Primorsky Boulevard. Another version posits that the settlement appeared after Odesa itself was founded, as a settlement of Moldavians, Greeks, and Albanians fleeing the Ottoman yoke.

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia *Richardson, Australian Capi ...

, p. 110. Under

Paul I of Russia Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III of Russia, Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he w ...

, construction of Odesa was stopped, Franz de Voland was removed from the project, and José de Ribas was implicated in a plot to assassinate the Emperor. After Paul's assassination in 1801, the city resumed construction, and used a plan largely from de Voland's work. It was thus one of the few master planned cities in the Russian Empire.

Renaming of the settlement and establishment of sea port

In 1795, Khadjibey was officially renamed with the feminine name "Odessa" after a Greek colony of Odessos ( grc, Ὀδησσός, in Roman times, Odessus) that supposedly was located in the area. The first census that was conducted in Odesa was in 1797 which accounted for 3,455 people. Since 1795, the city had its own city magistrate, and since 1796 a city council of six members and the Odesa Commodity Exchange. In 1801, in Odesa had opened the first commercial bank. In 1803, the city accounted for 9,000 people.

Petro Tronko Petro Timofiyovich Tronko ( uk, Петро́ Тимофі́йович Тронько́; 12 July 1915 - 12 September 2011) was a Ukrainian academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and veteran of World War II. He was a head of edit ...

.
Creation and development of the city of Odessa (Виникнення і розвиток міста Одеса)
'. The History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR. Большая Московская

In their settlement, also known as Novaya Slobodka, the Moldavians owned relatively small plots on which they built village-style houses and cultivated vineyards and gardens. What became Mykhailovsky Square was the center of this settlement and the site of its first Orthodox church, the Church of the Dormition, built in 1821 close to the seashore, as well as of a cemetery. Nearby stood the military barracks and the country houses ('' dacha'') of the city's wealthy residents, including that of the

Duc de Richelieu Duke of Richelieu (french: duc de Richelieu) was a title of French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (known as Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a Roman Catholic clergyman, had no issue to pass it down ...

, appointed by Tzar Alexander I as Governor of Odesa in 1803. Richelieu played a role during Ottoman plague epidemic which hit Odesa in the autumn 1812. Dismissive of any attempt to forge a compromise between quarantine requirements and free trade, Prince Kuriakin (the Saint Petersburg-based High Commissioner for Sanitation) countermanded Richelieu's orders. In the period from 1795 to 1814, the population of Odesa increased 15 times over and reached almost 20 thousand people. The first city plan was designed by the engineer F. Devollan in the late 18th century. Colonists of various ethnicities settled mainly in the area of the former colony, outside of the official boundaries, and as a consequence, in the first third of the 19th century, Moldavanka emerged as the dominant settlement. After planning by the official architects who designed buildings in Odesa's central district, such as the Italians Francesco Carlo Boffo and Giovanni Torricelli, Moldovanka was included in the general city plan, though the original grid-like plan of Moldovankan streets, lanes and squares remained unchanged. The new city quickly became a major success although initially it received little state funding and privileges.Odesa: Through Cossacks, Khans and Russian Emperors
The Ukrainian Week (18 November 2014) Its early growth owed much to the work of the

, who served as the city's governor between 1803 and 1814. Having fled the French Revolution, he had served in Catherine's army against the Turks. He is credited with designing the city and organizing its amenities and infrastructure, and is considered one of the founding fathers of Odesa, together with another Frenchman, Count Andrault de Langeron, who succeeded him in office. Richelieu is commemorated by a

bronze statue Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements t ...

, unveiled in 1828 to a design by Ivan Martos. His contributions to the city are mentioned by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

in his travelogue '' Innocents Abroad'': "I mention this statue and this stairway because they have their story. Richelieu founded Odessa – watched over it with paternal care – labored with a fertile brain and a wise understanding for its best interests – spent his fortune freely to the same end – endowed it with a sound prosperity, and one which will yet make it one of the great cities of the Old World". In 1819, Odesa became a free port, a status it retained until 1859. Odesa became home to an extremely diverse population of Albanians, Armenians, Azeris, Bulgarians, Crimean Tatars, Frenchmen, Germans (including Mennonites), Greeks, Italians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, and traders representing many other nationalities (hence numerous "ethnic" names on the city's map, for example ''Frantsuzky'' (French) and ''Italiansky'' (Italian) Boulevards, ''Grecheskaya'' (Greek), ''Yevreyskaya'' (Jewish), ''Arnautskaya'' (Albanian) Streets). The Filiki Eteria, a Greek freemasonry-style society which was to play an important role in the

Greek war of independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

, was founded in Odesa in 1814 before relocating to Constantinople in 1818. Odesa's cosmopolitan nature was documented by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived in internal exile in Odesa between 1823 and 1824. In his letters he wrote that Odesa was a city where "the air is filled with all Europe, French is spoken and there are European papers and magazines to read". Odesa's growth was interrupted by the Crimean War of 1853–1856, during which it was bombarded by British and Imperial French naval forces. It soon recovered and the growth in trade made Odesa Russia's largest grain-exporting port. In 1866, the city was linked by rail with Kyiv and Kharkiv as well as with Iaşi in Romania. potemkinstairs

The city became the home of a large Jewish community during the 19th century, and by 1897 Jews were estimated to comprise some 37% of the population. The community, however, was repeatedly subjected to

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and anti-Jewish agitation from almost all Christian segments of the population. Pogroms were carried out in 1821, 1859, 1871, 1881 and 1905. Many Odesan Jews fled abroad after 1882, particularly to the Ottoman region that became

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, and the city became an important base of support for Zionism.

Beginnings of revolution

Entry of the Red Army in Odessa, April 1919

In 1905, Odesa was the site of a workers' uprising supported by the crew of the Russian battleship ''Potemkin'' and the

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

's Iskra. Sergei Eisenstein's famous motion picture ''The Battleship Potemkin'' commemorated the uprising and included a scene where hundreds of Odesan citizens were murdered on the great stone staircase (now popularly known as the "Potemkin Steps"), in one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history. At the top of the steps, which lead down to the port, stands a statue of the

. The actual massacre took place in streets nearby, not on the steps themselves, but the film caused many to visit Odesa to see the site of the "slaughter". The "Odesa Steps" continue to be a tourist attraction in Odesa. The film was made at Odesa's Cinema Factory, one of the oldest cinema studios in the former Soviet Union. Following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 during Ukrainian-Soviet War, Odesa saw two Bolshevik armed insurgencies, the second of which succeeded in establishing their control over the city; for the following months the city became a center of the

Odesa Soviet Republic The Odesa Soviet Republic (OSR; uk, Одеська Радянська Республіка; russian: Одесская Советская Республика) was a short-lived Soviet republic formed on from parts of the Kherson and Bessarabi ...

. After signing of the

Brest-Litovsk Treaty The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

all Bolshevik forces were driven out by 13 March 1918 by the combined armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Army, providing support to the Ukrainian People's Republic. With the end of the World War I and withdrawal of armies of Central Powers, the Soviet forces fought for control over the country with the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. A few months later the city was occupied by the French Army and the Greek Army that supported the Russian White Army in its struggle with the Bolsheviks. The Ukrainian general

Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...

who sided with Bolsheviks managed to drive the Triple Entente forces out of the city, but Odesa was soon retaken by the Russian White Army. By 1920 the Soviet Red Army managed to overpower both the Ukrainian and Russian White Army and secure the city. The people of Odesa suffered badly from a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

that resulted from the Russian Civil War in 1921–1922 due to the Soviet policies of prodrazverstka.

World War II

During World War II, Odesa was attacked by Romanian and German troops in August 1941. The defense of Odesa started on 5 August 1941 and lasted for 73 days. The defense was organized on three lines with emplacements consisting of trenches, anti-tank ditches and pillboxes. The first line was long and situated some from the city. The second and main line of defense was situated from the city and was about long. The third and last line of defense was organized inside the city itself. Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the famous female sniper, took part in the battle for Odesa. Her first two kills were effected near Belyayevka using a Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope. She recorded 187 confirmed kills during the defense of Odesa. Pavlichenko's confirmed kills during World War II totaled 309 (including 36 enemy snipers). The city fell to the Axis on 16 October 1941, and it was henceforth subject to Romanian administration. By that time, the Soviet authorities had been able to evacuate 200,000 people as well as weaponry and industrial equipment. A day later, Odesa was made the capital of Transnistria. Partisan fighting continued, however, in the city's catacombs. Odessa Soviet artilery

Following the siege, and the Axis occupation, approximately 25,000 Odesans were murdered in the outskirts of the city and over 35,000 deported; this came to be known as the Odesa massacre. Most of the atrocities were committed during the first six months of the occupation which officially began on 17 October 1941, when 80% of the 210,000 Jews in the region were killed,

, p. 33. compared to Jews in Romania proper where the majority survived. After the Nazi forces began to lose ground on the Eastern Front, the Romanian administration changed its policy, refusing to deport the remaining Jewish population to extermination camps in German occupied Poland, and allowing Jews to work as hired labourers. As a result, despite the events of 1941, the survival of the Jewish population in this area was higher than in other areas of occupied eastern Europe. A Soviet medal, "For the Defence of Odessa", was established on 22 December 1942. Approximately 38,000 medals were awarded to servicemen of the Soviet Army, Navy, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and civil citizens who took part in the city's defense. It was one of the first four Soviet cities to be awarded the title of "

Hero City Hero City may refer to: * Hero City (Soviet Union), awarded 1965–1985 to cities now in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine * Hero City of Ukraine, awarded 2022 * Hero Cities of Yugoslavia, awarded 1970–1975 * Leningrad Hero City Obelisk, a monument ...

" in 1945. (These others were Leningrad,

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

, and Sevastopol). The city suffered severe damage and sustained many casualties over the course of the war. Many parts of Odesa were damaged during both its siege and recapture on 10 April 1944, when the city was finally liberated by the Red Army. Some of the Odesans had a more favourable view of the Romanian occupation, in contrast with the Soviet official view that the period was exclusively a time of hardship, deprivation, oppression and suffering – claims embodied in public monuments and disseminated through the media to this day. Subsequent Soviet policies imprisoned and executed numerous Odesans (and deported most of the German population) on account of collaboration with the occupiers. File:Odessa (timbre soviétique).jpg, Postage stamp of the USSR 1965 “Hero-City Odessa 1941-1945” File:Defence of Odessa OBVERSE.jpg, Obverse of the Soviet campaign medal "For the Defence of Odessa" File:Defence of Odessa REVERSE.jpg, Reverse of the Soviet campaign medal "For the Defence of Odessa"; inscription reads “For our Soviet homeland” File:Наградное удостоверение к медали За оборону Одессы.jpg, alt=Certificate "For taking part in the heroic defense of Odessa" Logvinov Petr Leontievich was awarded the Medal for the Defense of Odessa., Certificate "For taking part in the heroic defense of Odessa" Logvinov Petr Leontievich was awarded the Medal for the Defense of Odesa.

Postwar Soviet period

RIAN archive 171693 Fleet of whalers lying up in Odessa port

During the 1960s and 1970s, the city grew. Nevertheless, the majority of Odesa's Jews emigrated to Israel, the United States and other Western countries between the 1970s and 1990s. Many ended up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brighton Beach, sometimes known as "Little Odesa". Domestic migration of the Odesan middle and upper classes to Moscow and Leningrad, cities that offered even greater opportunities for career advancement, also occurred on a large scale. Despite this, the city grew rapidly by filling the void of those left with new migrants from rural Ukraine and industrial professionals invited from all over the Soviet Union. Russov House Odessa2020

As a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the city preserved and somewhat reinforced its unique cosmopolitan mix of Russian/Ukrainian/Jewish culture and a predominantly Russophone environment with the uniquely accented dialect of Russian spoken in the city. The city's unique identity has been formed largely thanks to its varied demography; all the city's communities have influenced aspects of Odesan life in some way or form.

Independence of Ukraine

In the

1991 Ukrainian independence referendum A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', page 1976 An overwhelming majority of 92.3% of voters approved the dec ...

85.38% of Odessa Oblast voted for independence. Odesa is a city of more than 1 million people. The city's industries include shipbuilding,

oil refining An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

, chemicals, metalworking, and food processing. Odesa is also a Ukrainian

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

base and home to a fishing fleet. It is known for its large outdoor market – the Seventh-Kilometer Market, the largest of its kind in Europe. Odesa was a contender for hosting Euro 2012 football matches in, but lost the competition to other cities in Ukraine. The city saw violence in the

2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the succes ...

during the 2014 Odesa clashes. The 2 May 2014 Odesa clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian protestors killed 42 people. Four were killed during the protests, and at least 32 trade unionists were killed after a trade union building was set on fire after Molotov cocktails exchange between sides. Polls conducted from September to December 2014 found no support for joining Russia. Odesa was struck by three bomb blasts in December 2014, one of which killed one person (the injuries sustained by the victim indicated that he had dealt with explosives).Two dead after Ukraine rocked by series of blasts

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were a ...

(28 December 2014)
Interior minister's advisor says Kharkiv, Odesa explosions aim at escalating tensions in Ukraine

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

(25 December 2014) Internal Affairs Ministry advisor Zorian Shkiryak said on 25 December that Odesa and Kharkiv had become "cities which are being used to escalate tensions" in Ukraine. Shkiryak said that he suspected that these cities were singled out because of their "geographic position". On 5 January 2015 the city's

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

Coordination Center and a cargo train car were (non-lethally) bombed.French Leader Urges End to Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine
New York Times (5 January 2015)
Latest Explosion in Odessa Strikes Pro-Ukraine Organization (Video)
The Moscow Times (5 January 2015)
Mysterious bombing rocks Ukrainian port city of Odessa

(5 January 2015) In the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, the city has faced some Russian attack, though as of March 21 it has not yet been the site of large-scale ground combat. On April 23, 2022, Russian troops bombarded Odesa with cruise missiles. They destroyed both the city's military infrastructure and residential buildings, killing eight people (including a three-month-old baby) and wounding another eighteen people. In addition, the Russians destroyed more than 1,000 m² of the territory of the cemetery. The city suffered further aerial attacks on regional infrastructure facilities in October 2022, cutting off power to 10,500 households and injuring three people.

Geography

Location

Odesa is situated () on terraced hills overlooking a small harbor on the Black Sea in the

Gulf of Odesa The Gulf of Odesa, or Odesa Bay, ( uk, Одеська затока, Odeska zatoka) is a part of the Black Sea between North Odesa Cape in the north and Cape Velykyi Fontan in the south. Overview The coasts of the gulf have capes Langeron and ...

, approximately north of the estuary of the Dniester river and some south of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The average elevation at which the city is located is around . The maximum is and minimum (on the coast) amounts to

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The city currently covers a territory of . The population density for which is around 6,139 persons/km². Sources of running water in the city include the Dniester River, from which water is taken and then purified at a processing plant just outside the city. Being located in the south of Ukraine, the topography of the area surrounding the city is typically flat and there are no large mountains or hills for many kilometres around. Flora is of the deciduous variety and Odesa is known for its tree-lined avenues which, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, made the city a favourite year-round retreat for the Russian aristocracy. The city's location on the coast of the Black Sea has also helped to create a booming tourist industry in Odesa. The city's Arkadia beach has long been a favourite place for relaxation, both for the city's inhabitants and its visitors. This is a large sandy beach which is located to the south of the city centre. Odesa's many sandy beaches are considered to be quite unique in Ukraine, as the country's southern coast (particularly in the Crimea) tends to be a location in which the formation of stoney and pebble beaches has proliferated. The coastal cliffs adjacent to the city are home to frequent

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s, resulting in a typical change of landscape along the Black Sea. Due to the fluctuating slopes of land, city planners are responsible for monitoring the stability of such areas, and for preserving potentially threatened building and other structures of the city

near water. Also a potential danger to the infrastructure and architecture of the city is the presence of multiple openings underground. These cavities can cause buildings to collapse, resulting in a loss of money and business. Due to the effects of climate and weather on sedimentary rocks beneath the city, the result is instability under some buildings' foundations.

Climate

Odesa has a hot-summer humid continental climate (''Dfa'', using the isotherm) that borderlines the semi-arid climate (''BSk'') as well as a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cfa'') This has, over the past few centuries, aided the city greatly in creating conditions necessary for the development of summer tourism. During the tsarist era, Odesa's climate was considered to be beneficial for the body, and thus many wealthy but sickly persons were sent to the city in order to relax and recuperate. This resulted in the development of

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

culture and the establishment of a number of luxury hotels in the city. The average annual temperature of the sea is . Seasonal temperatures range from an average of from January to March, to in August. Typically, for a total of 4 months – from June to September – the average sea temperature in the Gulf of Odesa and the city's bay area exceeds . The city typically experiences dry, cold winters, which are relatively mild when compared to most of Ukraine as they're marked by temperatures which rarely fall below . Summers see an increased level of precipitation, and the city often experiences warm weather with temperatures often reaching into the high 20s and low 30s C. Snow cover is often light or moderate. Municipal services rarely experience the same problems that can often be found in other, more northern, Ukrainian cities. This is largely because the higher winter temperatures and coastal location of Odesa prevents significant snowfall. The city hardly ever faces the phenomenon of sea-freezing.

Demographics

The peculiarity of the ethnic composition of the population of Odesa region is its multinationality. In the 2001 census, Ukrainians made up 62 percent of the Odesa region's inhabitants, Russian 29 percent, Bulgarians 6.1 percent, Moldovans 5 percent, Gagauz 1.1 percent, Jews 0.6 percent, Belarusians 0.5 percent, Armenians 0.3 percent, Gypsies 0.2 percent, Poles, Germans, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Tartars, Greeks, Albanians and Arabs each 0.1 percent, and 1.9 percent other nationalities.

Historical population

A 2015 study by the International Republican Institute found that 68% of Odesa was ethnic Ukrainian, and 25% ethnic Russian. According to the Seventh Annual Ukrainian Municipal Survey, 96% of the residents of Odesa spoke some Russian at home and 29% spoke some Ukrainian at home (overlap due to bilingually). Ukrainian is gaining in popularity: in 2021, the share of residents speaking some Ukrainian at home has increased almost 5 times from 6% in 2015 to 29% in 2021. Odesa oblast is also home to a number of other nationalities and minority

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

s, including

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

, Armenians, Azeris, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians,

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

, Greeks, Jews,

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, Romanians, Turks, among others. Up until the early 1940s the city had a large Jewish population. As the result of mass deportation to extermination camps during the Second World War, the city's Jewish population declined considerably. Since the 1970s, the majority of the remaining Jewish population emigrated to Israel and other countries, shrinking the Jewish community. Through most of the 19th century and until the mid 20th century, the largest ethnic group in Odesa was Russians, with the second largest ethnic group being Jews. Odessa Ethnicity 1897-2015

Historical ethnic and national composition

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

# Russians: 198,233 people (49.09%) # Jews: 124,511 people (30.83%) # Ukrainians: 37,925 people (9.39%) #

: 17,395 people (4.31%) # Germans: 10,248 people (2.54%) # Greeks: 5,086 people (1.26%) # Tatars: 1,437 people (0.36%) # Armenians: 1,401 people (0.35%) #

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

: 1,267 people (0.31%) #

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: 1,137 people (0.28%) *

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

# Russians: 162,789 people (39.97%) # Jews: 153,243 people (36.69%) # Ukrainians: 73,453 people (17.59%) #

: 10,021 people (2.40%) # Germans: 5,522 people (1.32%) #

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

: 2,501 people (0.60%) # Armenians: 1,843 people (0.44%) # Greeks: 1,377 people (0.33%) # Bulgarians: 1,186 people (0.28%) # Moldovans: 1,048 people (0.25%) *

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

# Jews: 200,961 people (33.26%) # Russians: 186,610 people (30.88%) # Ukrainians: 178,878 people (29.60%) #

: 8,829 people (1.46%) # Germans: 8,424 people (1.39%) # Bulgarians: 4,967 people (0.82%) # Moldovans: 2,573 people (0.43%) # Armenians: 2,298 people (0.38%) *

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

# Ukrainians: 120,945 people (49.45%) # Russians: 92,584 people (37.85%) # Germans: 8,643 people (3.53%) #

: 7,488 people (3.06%) # Bulgarians: 4,928 people (2.01%) # Moldovans: 3,224 people (1.32%) # Tatars: 436 people (0.18%) # Lipovans: 429 people (0.17%) *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

# Ukrainians: 622,900 people (61.6%) # Russians: 292,000 people (29.0%) # Bulgarians: 13,300 people (1.3%) # Jews: 12,400 people (1.2%) # Moldovans: 7,600 people (0.7%) #

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

: 6,400 people (0.6%) # Armenians: 4,400 people (0.4%) #

: 2,100 people (0.2%)

Government and administrative divisions

Whilst Odesa is the

of the Odesa Raion and Odesa Oblast, the city is also the main constituent of the Odesa Municipality. The city of Odesa is governed by a mayor and city council which work cooperatively to ensure the smooth-running of the city and procure its municipal bylaws. The city's budget is also controlled by the administration. The mayoralty plays the role of the executive in the city's municipal administration. Above all comes the mayor, who is elected, by the city's electorate, for five years in a direct election. 2015 Mayoral election of Odesa Hennadii Trukhanov was reelected in the first round of the election with 52,9% of the vote. Trukhanov was again reelected in the second round of the 2020 Mayoral election of Odesa when 54.28% of the voters voted for him.Trukhanov officially won the mayoral election in Odessa
The Ukrainian Week (17 November 2020) There are five deputy mayors, each of which is responsible for a certain particular part of the city's public policy. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary b42 726-0

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary b42 726-0

The City Council of the city makes up the administration's legislative branch, thus effectively making it a city 'parliament' or rada. The municipal council is made up of 120 elected members, who are each elected to represent a certain district of the city for a four-year term. The current council is the fifth in the city's modern history, and was elected in January 2011. In the regular meetings of the municipal council, problems facing the city are discussed, and annually the city's budget is drawn up. The council has seventeen standing commissions which play an important role in controlling the finances and trading practices of the city and its merchants. The territory of Odesa is divided into four administrative raions (districts): * Kyivskyi Raion * Malynovskyi Raion * Prymorskyi Raion * Suvorovskyi Raion In addition, every raion has its own administration, subordinate to the Odesa City council, and with limited responsibilities.

Cityscape

Many of Odesa's buildings have, rather uniquely for a Ukrainian city, been influenced by the Mediterranean style of classical architecture. This is particularly noticeable in buildings built by architects such as the Italian Francesco Boffo, who in early 19th-century built a palace and colonnade for the Governor of Odesa, Prince Mikhail Vorontsov, the Potocki Palace and many other public buildings. In 1887 one of the city's most well known architectural monuments was completed – the theatre, which still hosts a range of performances to this day; it is widely regarded as one of the world's finest opera houses. The first opera house was opened in 1810 and destroyed by fire in 1873. The modern building was constructed by Fellner and Helmer in neo-baroque; its luxurious hall was built in the rococo style. It is said that thanks to its unique acoustics even a whisper from the stage can be heard in any part of the hall. The theatre was projected along the lines of Dresden's Semperoper built in 1878, with its nontraditional foyer following the curvatures of the auditorium; the building's most recent renovation was completed in 2007. Odesa's most iconic symbol, the Potemkin Stairs, is a vast staircase that conjures an illusion so that those at the top only see a series of large steps, while at the bottom all the steps appear to merge into one pyramid-shaped mass. The original 200 steps (now reduced to 192) were designed by Italian architect Francesco Boffo and built between 1837 and 1841. The steps were made famous by Sergei Eisenstein in his film, '' Battleship Potemkin''. Most of the city's 19th-century houses were built of limestone mined nearby. Abandoned mines were later used and broadened by local smugglers. This created a gigantic complicated labyrinth of tunnels beneath Odesa, known as the Odesa catacombs. During World War II, the catacombs served as a hiding place for partisans and natural shelter for civilians, who were escaping air plane bombing. Derybasivska Street, an attractive pedestrian avenue named after José de Ribas, the Spanish-born founder of Odesa and decorated Russian Navy Admiral from the Russo-Turkish War, is famous by its unique character and architecture. During the summer it is common to find large crowds of people leisurely sitting and talking on the outdoor terraces of numerous cafés, bars and restaurants, or simply enjoying a walk along the cobblestone street, which is not open to vehicular traffic and is kept shaded by the linden trees which line its route. A similar streetscape can also be found in that of Primorsky Bulvar, a grand thoroughfare which runs along the edge of the plateau upon which the city is situated, and where many of the city's most imposing buildings are to be found. As one of the biggest on the Black Sea, Odesa's port is busy all year round. The Odesa Sea Port is located on an artificial stretch of Black Sea coast, along with the north-western part of the Gulf of Odesa. The total shoreline length of Odesa's sea port is around . The port, which includes an oil refinery, container handling facility, passenger area and numerous areas for handling dry cargo, is lucky in that its work does not depend on seasonal weather; the harbour itself is defended from the elements by breakwaters. The port is able to handle up to 14 million tons of cargo and about 24 million tons of oil products annually, whilst its passenger terminals can cater for around 4 million passengers a year at full capacity. In late 2022 one of the city's former central landmarks, the monument to the founders of Odesa with its statue of

, was dismantled and temporarily moved to the Odesa Fine Arts Museum.

Parks and gardens

There are a number of public parks and gardens in Odesa, among these are the Preobrazhensky, Gorky and Victory parks, the latter of which is an arboretum. The city is also home to a university botanical garden, which recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, and a number of other smaller gardens. The City Garden, or Gorodskoy Sad, is perhaps the most famous of Odesa's gardens. Laid out in 1803 by Felix De Ribas (brother of the founder of Odesa, José de Ribas) on a plot of urban land he owned, the garden is located right in the heart of the city. When Felix decided that he was no longer able to provide enough money for the garden's upkeep, he decided to present it to the people of Odesa in 1806. The garden is home to a bandstand and is the traditional location for outdoor theater in the summertime. Numerous sculptures can also be found within the grounds as well as a musical fountain, the waters of which are computer controlled to coordinate with the musical melody being played. Odesa's largest park,

Shevchenko Park Shevchenko Park may refer to several city parks in Ukraine, named after Taras Shevchenko: * Svevchenko Park, in Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast * Taras Shevchenko Park, in Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast; see FC Dynamo Dnipropetrovsk * Shevchenko Park, in ...

(previously Alexander Park), was founded in 1875, during a visit to the city by

Emperor Alexander II Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finlan ...

. The park covers an area of around and is located near the centre of the city, on the side closest to the sea. Within the park there are a variety of cultural and entertainment facilities, and wide pedestrian avenues. In the center of the park is the local top-flight football team's Chornomorets Stadium, the Alexander Column and municipal observatory. The Baryatinsky Bulvar is popular for its route, which starts at the park's gate before winding its way along the edge of the coastal plateau. There are a number of monuments and memorials in the park, one of which is dedicated to the park's namesake, the Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko. File:Украина, Одесса - Свято-Преображенский кафедральный собор 02.jpg, The city's Preobrazhensky Park surrounds its cathedral File:Odessa AlexanderII colomn and spruce tree.jpg, The Alexander Column in Schevchenko Park File:Украина, Одесса - Приморский бульвар, 11.jpg, The Londonskaya Hotel, on Odesa's magnificent Primorsky Bulvar, is one of the city's landmark buildings File:Odesa Olgivska-4 0-1.jpg, alt=The main building of the Odessa National Medical University, The main building of the Odesa National Medical University

Education

Odesa is home to several universities and other institutions of higher education. The city's best-known and most prestigious university is the Odesa 'I.I. Mechnykov' National University. This university is the oldest in the city and was first founded by an edict of Tsar

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...

in 1865 as the Imperial Novorossian University. Since then the university has developed to become one of modern Ukraine's leading research and teaching universities, with staff of around 1,800 and total of thirteen academic faculties. Other than the National University, the city is also home to the 1921-inaugurated Odesa National Economic University, the Odesa National Medical University (founded 1900), the 1918-founded Odesa National Polytechnic University. In addition to these universities, the city is home to the National University "Odesa Law Academy", the National Academy of Telecommunications, the

Odesa State Environmental University Odesa State Environmental University ( uk, Одеський державний екологічний університет) is a university in Odesa, Ukraine. History The university was founded on May 1, 1932 in Kharkiv as the Kharkiv Institu ...

and the Odesa National Maritime Academy. The last of these institutions is a highly specialised and prestigious establishment for the preparation and training of merchant mariners which sees around 1,000 newly qualified officer cadets graduate each year and take up employment in the merchant marines of numerous countries around the world. The South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University is also based in the city, this is one of the largest institutions for the preparation of educational specialists in Ukraine and is recognised as one of the country's finest of such universities. In addition to all the state-run universities mentioned above, Odesa is also home to many private educational institutes and academies which offer highly specified courses in a range of different subjects. With regard to primary and secondary education, Odesa has many schools catering for all ages from kindergarten through to lyceum (final secondary school level) age. Most of these schools are state-owned and operated, and all schools have to be state-accredited in order to teach children.

Culture

Museums, art and music

Fine Arts museum is the biggest art gallery in the city, which collection includes canvas mostly of Russian painters from 17th-21st centuries, icon collection and modern art. The

Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art ( uk, Одеський музей західного і східного мистецтва) is a museum of Fine Arts on Pushkin street in Odesa, Ukraine.

is big art museum; it has large European collections from the 16–20th centuries along with the art from the East on display. There are paintings from

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

, Mignard, Hals, Teniers and Del Piombo. Of note is Odesa's Alexander Pushkin Museum, which is dedicated to detailing the short time Pushkin spent in exile in Odesa, a period during which he continued to write. The poet also has a city street named after him, as well as a statue. Other museums in the city include the Odesa Archeological Museum, which is housed in a neoclassical building, the

Odesa Numismatics Museum The Odesa Numismatics Museum ( uk, Одеський музей нумізматики, translit=Odeskyi muzei numizmatyky) is a currency museum in Ukraine. The museum preserves and exhibits ancient relics from the Northern Black Sea Region and ...

, the Odesa Museum of the Regional History, Museum of Heroic Defense of Odesa (411th Battery). Among the city's public sculptures, two sets of '' Medici lions'' can be noted, at the Vorontsov Palace as well as the Starosinnyi Garden. Pushkin Monument, Odessa

Jacob Adler Jacob Pavlovich Adler (Yiddish: יעקבֿ פּאַװלאָװיטש אַדלער; born Yankev P. Adler; February 12, 1855 – April 1, 1926)IMDB biography was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and ...

, the major star of the Yiddish theatre in New York and father of the actor, director and teacher Stella Adler, was born and spent his youth in Odesa. The most popular Russian show business people from Odesa are Yakov Smirnoff (comedian), Mikhail Zhvanetsky (legendary

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business ...

writer, who began his career as a port engineer) and Roman Kartsev (comedian). Zhvanetsky's and Kartsev's success in the 1970s, along with Odesa's KVN team, contributed to Odesa's established status as "capital of Soviet humor", culminating in the annual Humoryna festival, carried out around the beginning of April. Odesa was also the home of the late Armenian painter

Sarkis Ordyan Sarkis Ordyan ( hy, Սարգիս Օրդյան; December 20, 1918 – 2003) was a Ukrainian- Armenian painter. Biography He was born to unknown parents in the village of Aigedzor, in the Shamshadin region of Armenia (now part of the Tavush ...

(1918–2003), the Ukrainian painter

Mickola Vorokhta Mickola Vorokhta ( uk, Микола Ворохта, born 18 July 1947 in Rakhiv, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian artist-painter who lives and works in Odessa. In 2014, he was awarded the status of Merited Artist of Ukraine. Mickola Vorokhta finished ...

and the Greek philologist, author and promoter of

Demotic Greek Demotic Greek or Dimotiki ( el, Δημοτική Γλώσσα, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece. "Demotic Greek" (w ...

Ioannis Psycharis (1854–1929).

Yuri Siritsov Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

, bass player of the Israeli Metal band PallaneX is originally from Odesa.

Igor Glazer Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...

Production Manager Baruch Agadati (1895–1976), the Israeli classical ballet dancer, choreographer, painter, and film producer and director grew up in Odesa, as did Israeli artist and author Nachum Gutman (1898–1980). Israeli painter Avigdor Stematsky (1908–89) was born in Odesa. Bunina-15-135

Odesa produced one of the founders of the Soviet violin school, Pyotr Stolyarsky. It has also produced many musicians, including the violinists Nathan Milstein, David Oistrakh and Igor Oistrakh, Boris Goldstein, Zakhar Bron and pianists Sviatoslav Richter,

Benno Moiseiwitsch Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE (22 February 18909 April 1963) was a Russian-born British pianist. Biography Moiseiwitsch was born to Jewish parents in Odessa, Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine), and began his studies at age seven with Dmitry Klimo ...

, Vladimir de Pachmann, Shura Cherkassky, Emil Gilels, Maria Grinberg,

Simon Barere Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

, Leo Podolsky and

Yakov Zak Yakov Izrailevich Zak ( uk, Яків Ізраїлович Зак), (russian: link=no, Яков Израилевич Зак), ''Jiakov Israilevič Sak''; Odessa, – Moscow, 28 June 1976) was a Soviet and Russian pianist and pedagogue. People's ...

. (Note: Richter studied in Odesa but was not born there.) The Odesa International Film Festival is also held in this city annually since 2010.

Literature

Poet Anna Akhmatova was born in Bolshoy Fontan near Odesa, however her further work was not connected with the city and its literary tradition. Odesa has produced many writers, including Isaac Babel, whose series of short stories, Odessa Tales, are set in the city. Other Odesans are the duo Ilf and Petrov—authors of '' The Twelve Chairs'', and Yuri Olesha, author of "

The Three Fat Men ''Three Fat Men'' (Три толстяка) written in 1924, by Yury Olesha, was published in 1928. It was the first revolutionary fairy tale in Soviet literature. The critical reaction at first was varied. V. Boichevsky in an article "How Storie ...

". Vera Inber, a poet and writer, as well as the poet and journalist

Margarita Aliger Margarita Iosifovna Aliger ( rus, Маргари́та Ио́сифовна Алиге́р, p=mərɡɐˈrʲitə ɪˈosʲɪfəvnə ɐlʲɪˈɡʲɛr, a=Margarita Iosifovna Aliger.ru.oga; – August 1, 1992) was a Soviet and Russian poet, translator ...

, were both born in Odesa. The Italian writer, Slavist and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

dissident Leone Ginzburg was born in Odesa into a Jewish family, and then went to Italy where he grew up and lived. One of the most prominent pre-war Soviet writers,

Valentin Kataev Valentin Petrovich Kataev (russian: Валенти́н Петро́вич Ката́ев; also spelled Katayev or Kataiev; – 12 April 1986) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright who managed to create penetrating works discussing ...

, was born here and began his writing career as early as high school (gymnasia). Before moving to Moscow in 1922, he made quite a few acquaintances here, including Yury Olesha and Ilya Ilf (Ilf's co-author Petrov was in fact Kataev's brother, Petrov being his pen-name). Kataev became a benefactor for these young authors, who would become some of the most talented and popular Russian writers of this period. In 1955 Kataev became the first

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the ''Youth'' (russian: link=no, Юность, Yunost'), one of the leading literature magazines of the

Ottepel ''The Thaw'' (russian: Оттепель, Ottepel) is a Russian television series which debuted in 2013. Valery Todorovsky debuted as a TV director with it. The series is a melodrama about life in the Soviet Union during the Khrushchev Thaw, spec ...

of the 1950s and 1960s. These authors and comedians played a great role in establishing the "Odesa myth" in the Soviet Union. Odesans were and are viewed in the ethnic stereotype as sharp-witted, street-wise and eternally optimistic. These qualities are reflected in the "Odesa dialect", which borrows chiefly from the characteristic speech of the Odesan Jews, and is enriched by a plethora of influences common for the port city. The "Odessite speech" became a staple of the "Soviet Jew" depicted in a multitude of jokes and comedy acts, in which a Jewish adherent served as a wise and subtle dissenter and opportunist, always pursuing his own well-being, but unwittingly pointing out the flaws and absurdities of the Soviet regime. The Odesan Jew in the jokes always "came out clean" and was, in the end, a lovable character – unlike some of other jocular nation stereotypes such as The Chukcha, The Ukrainian, The Estonian or The American.

Resorts and health care

Odessa Arcadia Plaza Beach Sea Water Sweaming Pool

Odesa is a popular tourist destination, with many therapeutic

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

s in and around the city. The city's Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases & Tissue Therapy is one of the world's leading ophthalmology clinics.

Celebrations and holidays

April Fools' Day, held annually on 1 April, is one of the most celebrated festivals in the city. Practical joking is a central theme throughout, and Odesans dress in unique, colorful attire to express their spontaneous and comedic selves. The tradition has been celebrated since the early 1970s, when the humor of Ukraine's citizens were drawn to television and the media, further developing into a mass festival. Large amounts of money are made from the festivities, supporting Odesa's local entertainers and shops.

Notable Odesans

Pyotr Schmidt (1867–1906) (better known as "Lieutenant Schmidt"), one of the leaders of the Sevastopol uprising, was born in Odesa. Ze'ev Jabotinsky (1880–1940), was born in Odesa, and largely developed his version of Zionism there in the early 1920s. A Marshal of the Soviet Union, Rodion Malinovsky (1898–1967), a military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union, was born in Odesa, whilst renowned Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal (1908–2005) lived in the city in 1934/1935. Sidney Reilly (ca.1873–1925), who was employed by William Melville (1850–1918) as one of the first spies of the British Secret Service Bureau, was a native Odesan. Another intelligence agent from Odesa was Genrikh Lyushkov (1900–1945), who joined the Odesa

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

in 1920 and reached two-star rank in the NKVD before fleeing to Japanese-occupied Manchuria in 1938 to avoid being murdered. The composer

Jacob Weinberg Jacob Weinberg (1 July 1879, Odesa – 2 November 1956 New York) was a Russian-born American Jewish composer and pianist who composed over 135 works for piano and other instruments. He was one of the founders of the Jewish National Conserva ...

(1879–1956) was born in Odesa. He composed over 135 works and was the founder of the Jewish National Conservatory in Jerusalem before immigrating to the U.S. where he became "an influential voice in the promotion of American Jewish music".von Rhein, John (19 August 2005)
"Jacob Weinberg: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Major"
'' Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved 29 August 2014. Valeria Lukyanova (born 1985), a girl from Odesa who looks very similar to a Barbie doll, has received attention on the Internet and from the media for her doll-like appearance. Mikhail Zhvanetsky (1934–2020), writer, satirist and performer best known for his shows targeting different aspects of the Soviet and post-Soviet everyday life, was born in Odesa. VitaliV (Vitali Vinogradov) (born 1957), an artist and sculptor based in London since 1989, was born in Odesa. Kostyantyn Mykolayovych Bocharov (born 1997), better known by his stage name Mélovin is a native of Odesa. He is best known for winning season six of '' X-Factor Ukraine'' and for representing Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, singing the song " Under the Ladder". Yaakov Dori (1899–1973), the first Chief of Staff of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, and President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, was born in Odesa, as was Israel Dostrovsky (1918–2010), Israeli physical chemist who was the fifth president of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Janka Bryl Ivan Antonovich "Janka" Bryl ( be, Янка Брыль; 4 August 1917 – 25 July 2006) was a Soviet and Belarusian writer best known for his short stories. He was one of the older generation of Soviet writers who had begun their literary ...

(1917 – 2006), Belarusian writer, was born in Odesa. Vladimir de Pachmann (1848–1933) a pianist of Russian-German ethnicity noted for performing the works of Chopin, was from Odesa.

Emil Grigoryevich Gilels Emil Grigoryevich Gilels (Russian: Эми́ль Григо́рьевич Ги́лельс; 19 October 1916 – 14 October 1985) was a Russian pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. Early life and educatio ...

(1916–1985), widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, was born in Odesa.

Stasys Pundzevičius Stasys Pundzevičius (2 September 1893 – 20 October 1980) was a Lithuanian division general, lecturer. He held high-ranking military positions in the interwar Lithuania: Chief of the Lithuanian Air Force, Chief of the General Staff, multiple tim ...

(1893–1980), Chief of the

Lithuanian Air Force The Lithuanian Air Force or LAF ( lt, Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos, abbreviated as ''LK KOP'') is the military aviation branch of the Lithuanian armed forces. It is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units ...

in the interwar Lithuania, was born in Odesa.

Economy

Odesa's economy largely stems from its traditional role as a port city. The nearly ice-free port lies near the mouths of the Dnieper, the

, the Dniester and the Danube rivers, which provide good links to the hinterland. During the Soviet period (until 1991) the city functioned as the USSR's largest trading port; it continues in a similar role as independent Ukraine's busiest international port. The port complex contains an oil and gas transfer and storage facility, a cargo-handling area and a large passenger port. In 2007 the Port of Odesa handled 31,368,000 tonnes of cargo. The port of Odesa is one of the Ukrainian Navy's most important bases on the Black Sea. Rail transport is an important sector of the economy in Odesa – largely due to the role it plays in delivering goods and imports to and from the city's port. The Container Terminal Odesa (CTO) in the port is the largest container terminal in Ukraine. It has been operated by the Hamburg-based HHLA Group since 2001 and, in addition to containers, also handles bulk goods, general cargo and project cargo. This means that Odesa is networked with the ports of Hamburg, Muuga and Trieste via the logistics group HHLA. Industrial enterprises located in and around the city include those dedicated to fuel refinement, machine building, metallurgy, and other types of light industry such as food preparation, timber plants and chemical industry. Agriculture is a relatively important sector in the territories surrounding the city. The Seventh-Kilometer Market is a major commercial complex on the outskirts of the city where private traders now operate one of the largest market complexes in Eastern Europe. The market has roughly 6,000 traders and an estimated 150,000 customers per day. Daily sales, according to the Ukrainian periodical '' Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'', were believed to be as high as US$20 million in 2004. With a staff of 1,200 (mostly guards and janitors), the market is also the region's largest employer. It is owned by local land and agriculture tycoon Viktor A. Dobrianskyi and three partners of his.

Tavria-V Tavria V ( uk, Таврія В) is a chain of 119 shopping centers in Odesa, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Izmail, Chornomorsk, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Ук� ...

is the most popular retail chain in Odesa. Key areas of

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

include: retail, wholesale, catering, production, construction and development, private label. Consumer recognition is mainly attributed to the high level of service and the quality of services.

is the biggest private company and the biggest tax payer. Odessabeach2018

Deribasivska Street is one of the city's most important commercial streets, hosting many of the city's boutiques and higher-end shops. In addition to this there are a number of large commercial shopping centres in the city. The 19th-century shopping gallery Passage was, for a long time, the city's most upscale shopping district, and remains an important landmark of Odesa. The tourism sector is of great importance to Odesa, which is currently the second most-visited Ukrainian city. In 2003 this sector recorded a total revenue of 189.2 million UAH. Other sectors of the city's economy include the banking sector: the city hosts a branch of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Imexbank JSCB "IMEXBANK" ( uk, ІМЕКСБАНК) was one of the largest commercial banks in Ukraine based in the city of Odessa. It was founded on March 29, 1994. The bank's primary owner was Leonid Klimov. On January 27, 2015, the National Bank of Ukr ...

, one of Ukraine's largest commercial banks, was based in the city, however on May 27, 2015, the Deposit Guarantee Fund of Ukraine made a decision to liquidate the bank. Foreign business ventures have thrived in the area, as since 1 January 2000, much of the city and its surrounding area has been declared a free economic zone – this has aided the foundation of foreign companies' and corporations' Ukrainian divisions and allowed them to more easily invest in the Ukrainian manufacturing and service sectors. To date a number of Japanese and Chinese companies, as well as a host of European enterprises, have invested in the development of the free economic zone, to this end private investors in the city have invested a great deal of money into the provision of quality office real estate and modern manufacturing facilities such as warehouses and plant complexes. Odesa also has a well-developed IT industry with large number of IT outsourcing companies and IT product startups. Among most famous startups is

Looksery Looksery is an American software and photography company founded in 2013 by Victor Shaburov and Yurii Monastyrshin. The company is based in San Francisco and owned by Snap Inc. The company developed the Looksery application that does facial modif ...

and AI Factory both developed in Odesa and acquired by

Snap inc Snap Inc. is an American camera and social media company, founded on September 16, 2011, by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown based in Santa Monica, California. The company developed and maintains technological products and services, ...

. File:Oděsa, přístav, loď.jpg, alt=Odessa's port is Ukraine's busiest. The harbour remains accessible all year round and serves as a vital import/export channel for the Ukrainian economy., Odesa's port is Ukraine's busiest. The harbour remains accessible all year round and serves as a vital import/export channel for the Ukrainian economy. File:Deribasovskaya-33-36.jpg, The Passage galleries, one of the city's landmarks.

Scientists

A number of scientists have lived and worked in Odesa. They include: Illya Mechnikov (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1908), Igor Tamm (Nobel Prize in Physics 1958), Selman Waksman (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1952),

Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...

, Nikolay Pirogov, Ivan Sechenov, Vladimir Filatov, Nikolay Umov,

Leonid Mandelstam Leonid Isaakovich Mandelstam or Mandelshtam ( be, Леанід Ісаакавіч Мандэльштам; rus, Леонид Исаакович Мандельштам, p=lʲɪɐˈnʲit ɨsɐˈakəvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam, a=Ru-Leonid_Mande ...

, Aleksandr Lyapunov, Mark Krein,

Alexander Smakula Olexander Smakula ( uk, Олександр Теодорович Смакула) (1900 in Dobrovody, Austria-Hungary, today Ukraine – 17 May 1983 in Auburn, Massachusetts, USA) was a Ukrainian physicist known for the invention of anti-reflectiv ...

, Waldemar Haffkine, Valentin Glushko, Israel Dostrovsky,

Catherine Chamié Catherine Chamié (13 December 1888 – 14 July 1950) was a French chemist. Along with Irène Joliot-Curie, she first measured the Half-life of radon. She also undertook extensive research on the photographic effect of groupings of atoms, an eff ...

, and George Gamow.

Transport

Maritime transport

Odesa is a major maritime-transport hub that includes several ports including Port of Odesa, Port of Chornomorsk (ferry, freight), Yuzhne (freight only). The Port of Odesa became a provisional headquarters for the Ukrainian Navy, following the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the Port of Odesa harbored the major Soviet cruise line Black Sea Shipping Company. Passenger ships and ferries connect Odesa with Istanbul, Haifa and Varna, whilst river cruises can occasionally be booked for travel up the Dnieper River to cities such as

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

and Kyiv.

Roads and automotive transport

The first car in the Russian Empire, a Mercedes-Benz belonging to V. Navrotsky, came to Odesa from France in 1891. He was a popular city publisher of the newspaper ''Odesskii listok'' ("Odesa leaf"). Odesa is linked to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, by the M05 Highway, a high quality multi-lane road which is set to be re-designated, after further reconstructive works, as an 'Avtomagistral' (motorway) in the near future. Other routes of national significance, passing through Odesa, include the M16 Highway to Moldova, M15 to Izmail and Romania, and the M14 which runs from Odesa, through Mykolaiv and

to Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. The M14 is of particular importance to Odesa's maritime and shipbuilding industries as it links the city with Ukraine's other large deep water port Mariupol which is located in the south east of the country. Odesa also has a well-developed system of inter-urban municipal roads and minor beltways. However, the city is still lacking an extra-urban bypass for transit traffic which does not wish to proceed through the city centre. Intercity bus services are available from Odesa to many cities in Russia (Moscow,

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

, Krasnodar, Pyatigorsk), Germany (Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), Greece ( Thessaloniki and Athens), Bulgaria ( Varna and Sofia) and several cities of Ukraine and Europe.

Railways

Odesa is served by a number of railway stations and halts, the largest of which is Odesa Holovna (Main Station). From this station services connect Odesa with Warsaw, Prague,

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, the cities of Ukraine and many other cities of the former USSR. The city's first railway station was opened in the 1880s. During the Second World War, the iconic building of the main station, which had long been considered to be one of the Russian Empire's premier stations, was destroyed through enemy action. In 1952 the station was rebuilt to the designs of A Chuprina. The current station, which is characterised by its many socialist-realist architectural details and grand scale, was renovated by the state railway operator Ukrainian Railways in 2006.

Public transport

In 1881, Odesa became the first city in Imperial Russia to have steam tramway lines, an innovation that came only one year after the establishment of horse tramway services in 1880 operated by the "Tramways d'Odessa", a Belgian owned company. The first

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 ...

steam tramway line ran from Railway Station to Great Fontaine and the second one to Hadzhi Bey Liman. These routes were both operated by the same Belgian company. Electric tramway started to operate on 22 August 1907. Trams were imported from Germany. The city's public transit system is currently made up of trams, trolleybuses, buses and fixed-route taxis ( marshrutkas). Odesa also has a

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...

to Vidrada Beach, and recreational ferry service. There are two routes of public transport which connect Odesa Airport with the city center: trolley-bus No.14 and marshrutka No.117. One additional mode of transport in Odesa is the Potemkin Stairs funicular railway, which runs between the city's Primorsky Bulvar and the sea terminal, has been in service since 1902. In 1998, after many years of neglect, the city decided to raise funds for a replacement track and cars. This project was delayed on multiple occasions but was finally completed eight years later in 2005. The funicular has now become as much a part of historic Odesa as the staircase to which it runs parallel.

Air transport

Odesa International Airport, which is located to the south-west of the city centre, is served by a number of airlines. The airport is also often used by citizens of neighbouring countries for whom Odesa is the nearest large city and who can travel visa-free to Ukraine. Transit flights from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East to Odesa are offered by Ukraine International Airlines through their hub at Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport.

Sport

The most popular sport in Odesa is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. The main professional football club in the city is FC Chornomorets Odesa, who play in the Ukrainian Premier League. Chornomorets play their home games at the Chornomorets Stadium, an elite-class stadium which has a maximum capacity of 34,164. The second football team in Odesa is

FC Odesa FC Odesa was a professional Ukrainian football club based in Odesa. The club plays in blue-white colors. The club originally was called Dnister and played in Ovidiopol but after the 2010–11 season the club moved to Odesa. History The first f ...

Basketball is also a prominent sport in Odesa, with BC Odesa representing the city in the Ukrainian Basketball League, the highest tier basketball league in Ukraine. Odesa will become one of five Ukrainian cities to host the 39th European Basketball Championship in 2015.

Athletes

The cyclist and aviator Sergei Utochkin was one of the most famous natives of Odesa in the years before the Russian Revolution. Chess player Efim Geller was born in the city. Gymnast Tatiana Gutsu (known as "The Painted Bird of Odesa") brought home Ukraine's first Olympic gold medal as an independent nation when she outscored the USA's Shannon Miller in the women's all-around event at

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, Spain. Figure skaters Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov won the 1994 and 1998 Olympic gold medals as well as the 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 World Championships in ice dance. Both were born and raised in the city, though they skated at first for the Soviet Union, in the Unified Team, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and then Russia. Hennadiy Avdyeyenko won a 1988 Olympic gold medal in thehigh jump, setting an Olympic record at . Other notable athletes: * Mykola Avilov, Olympic champion in decathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich * Oksana Baiul, Olympic champion in figure skating in 1994 * Ihor Belanov, European Footballer of the Year in 1986 * Yuriy Bilonoh, European Athletics Championships in shot put at 2002 in Munich * Leonid Buryak (born 1953), football coach and former Olympic bronze medal-winning player * Maksim Chmerkovskiy, professional ballroom & Latin dancer on American Dancing With the Stars * Valentin Chmerkovskiy, professional ballroom & Latin dancer on American Dancing With the Stars * Charles Goldenberg (1911–1986), NFL All-Pro football player * Viktor Kanevskyi (born 1936), football player and coach * Svetlana Krachevskaya, Olympic silver medalist in shot put * Viacheslav Kravtsov, NBA basketball player * Lenny Krayzelburg (born 1975), Olympic champion swimmer * Artur Kyshenko, K1 Muay Thai kickboxer *

Yevgeny Lapinsky Yevhen Valentinovich Lapinsky ( uk, Євген Валентинович Лапинський, 23 March 1942 – 29 September 1999), also known as Yevgeny Lapinsky, was a Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian former volleyball player who ...

, Olympic champion in volleyball at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico * Roman Pelts, Soviet chess master * Viktor Petrenko, Olympic champion in figure skating in 1992 * Vladimir Portnoi, Olympic silver and bronze medalist in gymnastics *

Vitaliy Pushkar Vitaliy Pushkar ( ua, Пушкар Віталій Олексійович; born May 9, 1987) is a Ukrainian rally driver, Ukrainian rally vice-champion, European rally champion in ERC Production Cup category, and The Boar ProRacing team driver. ...

, racing driver, No. 6 in 2012 International Rally Challenge Production cup standings * Theodore Rezvoy, ocean rower, Guinness records holder (twice) * Ekaterina Rubleva, Russian ice dancing champion * Yulia Ryabchinskaya, Olympic champion in the K-1 500 m Kayak Singles at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich * Dmitry Salita (born 1982), boxer *

Michael Shmerkin Michael "Misha" Shmerkin (born 5 February 1970) is an Israeli former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time Skate Canada International silver medalist (1994 and 1995), 1993 Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, and 1995 Skate Israel champion. H ...

(born 1970), Israeli competitive figure skater * Elina Svitolina (born 1994), professional tennis player *

Olena Vitrychenko Olena Ihorivna Vitrychenko ( uk, Олена Ігорівна Вітриченко, russian: Елена Игоревна Витриченко; born 25 November 1976), also known as Elena Vitrichenko, is an Individual Ukrainian Rhythmic Gymnast. S ...

, world champion in rhythmic gymnastics * Andriy Voronin (born 1979), football manager and player * Yakov Zheleznyak, Olympic champion in 50 m Running Target at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich * Dayana Yastremska (born 2000), professional tennis player

Twin towns – sister cities

Odesa is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Alexandria, Egypt (1968) *

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, United States (1975) *

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

, Moldova (1994) *

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, Romania (1991) * Genoa, Italy (1972) * Haifa, Israel (1992) * Istanbul, Turkey (1997) * Kolkata, India (1986) * Liverpool, United Kingdom (1957) * Łódź, Poland (1993) * Marseille, France (1973) *

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

, Cyprus (1996) *

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

, Finland (1957) * Piraeus, Greece (1993) *

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, China (1993) *

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, Germany (1990) * Split, Croatia (1964) * Szeged, Hungary (1977) * Vancouver, Canada (1944) * Varna, Bulgaria (1958) * Yerevan, Armenia (1995) * Yokohama, Japan (1968)

Partner cities

Odesa cooperated with: * Brest, Belarus (2004) *

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Poland (1996) * Klaipėda, Lithuania (2004) * Larnaca, Cyprus (2004) *

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

, Morocco (2019) * Minsk, Belarus (1996) * Ningbo, China (2008) * Tallinn, Estonia (1997) * Tbilisi, Georgia (1996) * Valparaíso, Chile (2004) * Vienna, Austria (2006) * Warsaw, Poland (2005)

References

Cited sources

* * *

External links

* *
Official Odessa web page

Official Odessa Map Portal

Map of the current public transport routes in Odessa

The murder of the Jews of Odessa
during World War II, at Yad Vashem website.
The Jewish Community of Odessa
The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot
Odessa yesterday. Odessa today. Images gallery. Prospekt Group
{{Authority control Port cities of the Black Sea Cities in Odesa Oblast Populated coastal places in Ukraine Port cities and towns in Ukraine Seaside resorts in Ukraine Oblast centers in Ukraine 1794 establishments in the Russian Empire Populated places established in the Russian Empire Populated places established in 1794 Odessky Uyezd Historic Jewish communities Holocaust locations in Ukraine 1794 establishments in Ukraine Hromadas of Odesa Oblast Cities in Odesa Raion

Name

History

Early history

Ottoman conquest

Russian conquest of Sanjak of Özi (Ochakiv Oblast)

Renaming of the settlement and establishment of sea port

Beginnings of revolution

World War II

Postwar Soviet period

Independence of Ukraine

Geography

Location

Climate

Demographics

Historical population

Historical ethnic and national composition

Government and administrative divisions

Cityscape

Parks and gardens

Education

Culture

Museums, art and music

Literature

Resorts and health care

Celebrations and holidays

Notable Odesans

Economy

Scientists

Transport

Maritime transport

Roads and automotive transport

Railways

Public transport

Air transport

Sport

Athletes

Twin towns – sister cities

Partner cities

See also

References

Cited sources

Further reading

External links