Attractions of Odesa region

The Danube floodplains are a unique ecosystem where you can meet 563 species of various plants and more than 200 species of birds.

The territory of the Danube Biosphere Reserve includes delta islands upstream and downstream of the Danube, flowing north along the Danube, delta lakes and a two-kilometer strip of marine water along the coast.

Rafts are available for excursion trips organized by the reserve administration, as well as numerous private carriers. Popular excursions to water lilies, to the "Zero Kilometer" (where the Danube meets the Black Sea) and to the islands of the Old Believers with a treat of Danube fish soup and homemade Novak wine.

The information and tourist center of the Danube Biosphere Reserve is located near the Christmas Church (the so-called "second church"). There is a museum at the visitor center.

Derybasivska is a pedestrian street in the center of Odesa, celebrated by writers and poets. It was named after the first Odesa mayor Osip Derbas (Khose de Ribas).

At the very beginning of the street, there is a monument to Deribas, popularly nicknamed "the grasshopper". The street is built with low-rise buildings of the 19th century, the first floors of which are occupied by numerous shops, restaurants and cafes with outdoor summer areas.

Traditionally, major city events take place on Derybasivska Street, in particular the Humor Parade during the annual "Humorina" celebration on April 1. On other days, the street is open for walking, and there is a brisk trade in paintings and souvenirs. The fair town "Odesa Fair" with wooden houses selling street food and drinks is constantly operating.

There are several interesting sculptures in the park zone of the City Garden: a monument to Leonid Utyosov, a monument to Serhiy Utochnik, sculptures "Lion" and "Lioness", a monument to the "Twelfth Chair".

The Small Mosque is the oldest architectural monument of Izmail (XVI century), one of the few examples in Ukraine of medieval classical Ottoman architecture of its heyday.

The mosque is located near the Turkish fortress of Ishmael, taken in 1790 by Russian troops and the Black Sea Cossacks under the command of Oleksandr Suvorov.

A museum with a diorama "Siege of Izmail Fortress" created by artists Yevhen Danilevsky and Veniamin Sibirsky was opened in the mosque. The 20x8 m canvas depicts the decisive moment of the storming of the fortress.

Odesa cultural and health complex "Nemo" is located in the center of the city, on the beach "Lanzheron ".

Includes a dolphinarium, an oceanarium and a hotel. Opened in 2005 for International Children's Day.

The complex meets international standards, keeping marine mammals meets all conventions and requirements. The large demonstration hall is open in the warm season and can accommodate up to 900 spectators (closed in winter, it can accommodate 600 spectators). Visitors are offered swimming with dolphins, dolphin therapy sessions.

The exposition of the oceanarium consists of two departments. The aquarium features inhabitants of fresh and sea water, more than 100 species of fish and more than 50 species of invertebrates.

The basis of the exotarium was Serhiy Duz's long-term collection, which includes more than 40 species of amphibians and reptiles and more than 60 species of terrestrial invertebrates, as well as one of the best collections of tropical butterflies in Ukraine, which includes more than 1,000 specimens.

The ruins of the once luxurious palace of the Dubecky-Pankeyevs on the shore of the pond attract the attention of everyone who drives along the Chisinau highway through Vasylivka.

The estate in Vasylivka was founded in 1845 by Major General Vasyl Dubetsky. According to some sources, the construction of the palace was completed in 1854. It is possible that the architect was the author of the Potomkin Stairs, Odesa architect Frants Boffo. In terms of beauty, the manor house, as they say, was not inferior to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. It was surrounded by a park with fountains and exotic trees.

At the end of the 19th century, the manor was bought from the descendants of Dubetsky by the Tavry merchant Kostyantyn Pankeyev, who moved to Odesa from Kakhovka. His son Serhiy also lived here, who went down in history as the "Wolf Man", one of the most famous patients of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

The palace building did not survive the revolution and the Soviet-Ukrainian war, but the ruins are well preserved.

The Experimentarium is the first branch of the Odesa Museum of Interesting Science. It opened at the end of January 2024 in the Atrium shopping center after the destruction of the main space of the Museum of Interesting Science on Shevchenko Avenue in the summer of 2023 by a Russian missile strike.

The museum team managed to save almost all of its exhibits, with the exception of special rooms, and after only 7 months, the Museum moved part of its exposition to a new location and continued its work as an Experimentarium with 23 exhibits of the collection. Now everyone who wants to can visit this space in the Atrium shopping center, which helps children to distract themselves from the war for 1.5-2 hours with scientific experiments.

If in other museums you can't even touch the valuable exhibits, then in the Experimentarium you can not only touch, check, feel and see everything in action. Both children and adults can conduct interesting experiments and unusual experiments.

The main task of the Experimentarium is to show schoolchildren and students that even the most difficult tasks and the longest formulas can be exciting, if you just look at them from a different angle.

The Experimentarium aims to teach subjects of the natural cycle: physics, chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy, mathematics and many other fields of knowledge.

On April 12, 2024, the Museum of Interesting Science resumed its work at a new location in the Primorsky district of Odesa.

The Odesa Football Museum is located in the Chornomorets Stadium complex. Opened in 2012 after the reconstruction of the stadium.

The exposition tells about the history of Odesa football and FC "Chornomorets" since the founding of the club in 1936. Photos of all football players who played for the club, coaches, the first matches with the participation of the Chornomorets team are presented.

The form of players of different periods, boots, goalkeeper gloves, balls, etc. is of the greatest interest.

During the tour you can visit the bowl of the stadium, locker rooms, technical areas, conference hall.

A branch of the Greek Cultural Foundation (Athens) was opened in Odesa in 1994 in a historic building, where in 1814 a secret revolutionary-patriotic organization "Filiki Eteria" was established, which was engaged in preparing the national liberation movement in Greece.

The exposition also demonstrates the activities and life of the Greek colony in Odesa in the pre-revolutionary period.

The Izmail Memorial Park-Museum "Fortress" was created in 1991 to protect the historical territory of the Izmail Fortress of the XVI-XIX centuries and other architectural monuments of the city.

The administration and exhibition halls of the museum are located in an old one-story building in the city center. The exposition consists of one large hall and three rooms, which shows the history of the formation and development of the fortress of Ishmael, reflects the life of the medieval city.

In the courtyard of the museum there is a Park of Miniatures, which exhibits models of objects that took place in Turkish Ishmael in the XVI-XVIII centuries: a general view of the fortress, the Broska Gate, the stone bastion of Tabia, the Red Mosque in the Tatar districts, the Small Mosque diorama "Assault on the fortress of Izmail"), St. Nicholas Church, residential buildings, caravanserai, city fountain. The miniatures are made at a scale of 1:30.

A sightseeing tour of the main sights of the city of Izmail is offered.

The Izmail Museum of History and Local Lore of the Danube Region was founded in Izmail in 1990.

Located in an old two-story mansion of the late XIX century, which belonged to the Bessarabian landowner and mayor Fedir Tulchianov.

The museum's collection includes more than 40,000 exhibits. The exhibition area of ​​about 1,000 square meters features permanent exhibitions: "Ancient History and Archeology of the Lower Danube", "Turkish Izmail", "Contribution of the Tulchianovy Merchant Dynasty to the Development of Izmail", "World War I in Memory of Izmail", Gloty Hall and the pavilion of nature.

You can see archeological finds, precious coins and jewelry, ceramics, furniture, watches, musical instruments, samples of folk and secular (salon) clothing and more. Of particular note is the collection of costumes of the museum theater "Sophocles", created in the style of different eras: Kyivan Rus X-XI centuries, aristocratic and folk clothing of the XVI-XIX centuries.

The theater, which employs museum staff, shows a number of performances and mini-performances.

The courtyard of the museum with flower beds, trees and exotic shrubs is open to the public, where an old two-storey 19th-century Balkan-style wing with a wooden gallery on the second floor and a corner tower is located.

Vasyl Tayirov Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking was established on the outskirts of Odesa in 1905 as an experimental farm "Vinemaking station of Russian winegrowers and winemakers".

The initiator of its creation was the editor of the magazine "Herald of winemaking", an enthusiast of grape culture, Vasyl Tayirov. At the first stage, a small basement was equipped, and a library was assembled. In the period from 1910 to 1912, the construction of a complex of station premises was completed on the banks of the Sukhy Estuary. An experimental vineyard (3 hectares) was established and a seedling grafting workshop was built to develop viticulture issues.

In 1931, the station was reorganized into the Ukrainian Research Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking. For its 100th anniversary, a museum of grapes and wine was opened, which tells about the main directions of development of the domestic winemaking school.

The exposition presents Vasyl Tayirov's personal belongings, lifetime editions of scientific works, old laboratory equipment, gifts of the institute.

Excursions with tastings are held.

The Holy Ascension Cathedral is the main Orthodox shrine and the largest temple in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.

Construction on the site of the old Turkish cemetery was carried out from 1815 to 1820 with donations from local residents. Initially, the church had the shape of a ship, but in 1830, three porticos with 4 columns were added, and the cathedral took on the shape of a cross, characteristic of Russian classicism. In 1971, the walls and dome of the cathedral were painted by the family of the artist Piskarev with a group of Moscow artists.

A part of the relics of Saint Ioann of Suchavsky is preserved in the Ascension Cathedral.

A 40-meter-high belfry adjoined the cathedral, which collapsed in 2004 (restoration is underway).

A chapel was built on the territory in honor of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ.

The Holy Assumption Monastery is the most famous abode in Odesa, founded by Metropolitan Havryil.

Since 1946, the summer residence of the Moscow Patriarchs was located here, the monastery was named Patriarchy, and the Odesa Theological Seminary was transferred here. The building of the patriarchal residence has been preserved on the territory.

The first stone temple was built in 1825 on the site of a wooden one (it was later destroyed by the Bolsheviks). In 1834, a second monastery church with a bell tower was built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-giving Source" (now Uspensky) with the funds donated to the temple by the Odesa merchant Dariya Kharlambu.

Today, there is a miraculous icon of the Mother of God "The Milkmaid", painted by Athos monks in the 17th century.

The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God in Izmail is the main temple of the city.

It was built in the center of Izmail in 1820-1831, during the heyday of urban planning, in the house of an old wooden temple from Turkish times. The cathedral in the style of classicism was built according to the project of the architect Avraam Melnykov, professor of architecture and rector of the Moscow Academy of Arts (according to another version - Heorhiy Torichelli).

At first it was a simple one-domed temple. Next to it in 1848, a 65-meter three-tier bell tower was built, the bells for which were cast from the metal of captured Turkish cannons. A little later, the bell tower was connected to the cathedral by a covered gallery, and above it was built the upper temple of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The distinct oval colonnade was built in 1837. As a result, the form of the Holy Intercession Cathedral began to vaguely resemble the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The interior was painted in the Art Nouveau style by the artist Pavlo Piskarev, a student of Viktor Vasnetsov.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a clock with a battle was installed on the belfry, which is still going on.

The Holy Intercession Cathedral in Kiliia was built in 1822-1836 according to the project of the architect Abraham Melnikov.

In 1895, a bell tower was added to the new cathedral.

Local residents call the church a "Ukrainian church" as opposed to Old Believer churches.