The city of Odesa is a large seaport and resort in the south of Ukraine, one of the most distinctive cities of the country, a popular tourist center.
Since the 15th century, it has been known as the Lithuanian, then the Turkish fortress of Khadzhybey. In 1789, during the second Russo-Turkish war, it was captured by a Russian detachment under the command of Major General Osip Deribas, who became the organizer and first mayor of the new city.
Renamed Odesa in 1795, it soon became the southern gate of the Russian Empire. A key role in the development of South Palmyra was played by the mayor Dyuk Rishelye, who started planned development.
The city has a rich "literary biography" (Adam Mitskevych, Mykola Hohol, Lesya Ukrayinka, Ivan Franko, Oleksandr Kuprin, Anna ...
Duke de Rishelye Monument
Monument
Monument to Armand Emmanuel du Plessi, Duke de Rishelye, who was one of the most popular Odesa mayors.
The Duke de Rishelye, a Frenchman by birth, emigrated to Russia after the Great French Revolution of 1789. In 1790, he participated in the capture of Izmail, in 1803 he was appointed the city of Odesa, and then the governor-general of Novorossiya.
Richelieu began to be called Emmanuel Yosypovych. For him, Odesa received a temporary exemption from taxes and was actively built.
When the Bourbons returned to power in France in 1814, the duke left for his homeland, donating all his property to the Odesa Rishelye Lyceum.
After his death in 1822, fundraising began, and in 1828 a monument to Duke Rishelye was erected. Sculptor Ivan Martos created the duke dressed in a Roman toga with a scroll in his hand and three brass bas-reliefs symbolizing agriculture, trade and justice. Today it is the most famous symbol of Odesa.
Pranksters recommend looking at Duke from the water hatch to the left of the monument. From this angle, the scroll in Duke Rishelye's hand looks very ambiguous.
Genocide Museum "Territory of Memory"
Museum / gallery
The Genocide Museum "Territory of Memory" in Odesa opened in 2024 by Odesa Holocaust Research Center. The institution is located in the place of the Central Post Office in the center of the city.
The exposition reveals the history of the appearance of the term genocide, the fate of its authorship by Raphael Lemkin, the essence of the concept of the crime of genocide in international law, the tragic pages of the Holocaust and the history of salvation, the themes of the Armenian and Roma genocide, the Holodomor in Ukraine, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, the genocides of the 21st century. A separate location is dedicated to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The miniatures represent the railway station from which the Tatars were deported, the powder warehouses where Odesa Jews were burned, the episode of mass shooting and torture in Buch, the destroyed drama theater in Mariupol, Zmeyiny Island and the destruction of the Moscow cruiser.
The modern interactive exhibition space makes extensive use of multimedia digital technologies. A special emotional atmosphere is created with the help of point lighting. The multifunctional museum space includes a library and a discussion platform.
Odesa Film Studio Cinema Museum
Museum / gallery
The Odesa Film Studio Museum opened in Odesa in 2017. The museum is located in a real film pavilion built in the 1930s. This pavilion is the largest on the territory of the Odesa Film Studio.
The exhibition of the film museum is the richest collection of costumes, scenery, and props for famous films shot at the Odesa Film Studio and highlights the history of the development of cinema, tells about the role of Odesa in the formation of cinema, reveals the stories of the filming of favorite films and what remained behind the scenes.
Visitors to the film museum are presented with locations from the most famous films of the Odesa Film Studio, which have long become classics, as well as the expositions "Golden Film Fund" (1970-1980) and "Modern Cinema of the Odesa Film Studio".
During the tour, visitors have the opportunity to immerse themselves in augmented reality, which allows them to "revive" museum exhibits and see their use directly in the film.
The Museum of Cinema Technology is located under the legendary film pavilion No. 1, in the film and lighting equipment workshop. The museum of cinema technology presents: film and lighting equipment, auxiliary camera equipment, projection, sound recording and playback equipment, editing, make-up and photographic areas, game and special transport in models and mock-ups, an old 35 mm projector with an original positive film with fragments of films of the Odesa Film Studio of different years.
Shustov cognac winery Museum
Museum / gallery , Winery / brewery
Odesa cognac plant is the oldest enterprise of the industry in Ukraine.
Founded in 1863 by the South Russian Society "Black Sea Winery". Later, the factory was bought by the Shustov family of famous industrialists.
At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, Shustov's cognac won first place, thus earning the right to be called "cognac".
Currently, PJSC "Odesa Cognac Factory" produces 16 varieties of cognacs, starting from the ordinary "Desna" and ending with collector's ones - "Yuvileynyi", "Odesa", "Kyiv", "Zoloty Duke".
In 2013, the Mykola Shustov Cognac Museum was opened, which recreates the atmosphere of ancient cognac cellars. The museum includes several "caisson" halls: three exhibition and tasting halls, a cinema, a hall of changing exhibitions.
In particular, a copy of a copper Charente alembic for alcohol smoking from the end of the 19th century by the French firm Prulho, a full-size model of a pre-revolutionary conca, as well as a bottle of Shustov cognac from 1900, which won the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris, are presented.
A tour of the museum includes part of the production (blending workshop and alcohol aging workshop), a visit to the old cellars, as well as a tasting of the best "Shustov" cognacs.
Fixed tour times: 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00 and 18.00
"Foreign Writers in Odesa" Museum
Museum / gallery , Architecture
The Museum "Foreign Writers in Odesa" was officially founded in Odesa on January 1, 2025 as a result of the reorganization of the former Oleksandr Pushkin Literary and Memorial Museum in Odessa in compliance with the Law of Ukraine "On Decolonization".
The museum is located in the historic building of the former Hotel du Nord in the center of Odesa. It is a branch of the Odesa Literary Museum.
The exposition of the Museum "Foreign Writers in Odesa" should cover the biographies and works of at least two dozen world-famous writers who visited and lived in Odesa at different times in the 19th and 20th centuries. These include, for example, famous American writers Mark Twain and Theodore Dreiser, Romanian classic Mihai Eminescu, Oleksandr Green, Ivan Bunin, etc.
On the evening of Friday, January 31, 2025, the Russians fired Iskander ballistic missiles at Odesa. The strike hit the historic city center. Seven people were injured. 19 architectural monuments included in the UNESCO World Heritage List were seriously damaged, including the Museum of Foreign Writers in Odesa. The museum building suffered significant damage: windows and doors were broken, and the roof and walls were seriously damaged.
Due to the consequences of the Russian missile strike, the "Foreign Writers in Odesa" museum's re-exhibition has been postponed indefinitely.
Administrative status | city |
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Founded / first mentioned | 1795 |
Latitude | 46.48423 |
Longitude | 30.737171 |
Area, sq. km | 236.9 |
Population | 1010537 |
Postal codes | 65000-65480 |
Region | Odesa |