Attractions of Odesa region

The monument to the orange that saved Odesa is a modern monument in the center of the city.

The development of Odesa at the end of the 18th century directly depended on the completion of the construction of the sea port initiated by Catherine II, but during the reign of Emperor Paul I, funding stopped. In order to express to the tsar his "loyal diligence" and to ask for a loan of 250,000 rubles, the magistrate sent to St. Petersburg a train with the first oranges that arrived at the port in early February. At the end of winter, southern fruits fell to the tsar's court, money was allocated for the completion of the port, and Odesa was saved.

The savior orange moment was installed on Duma Square in 2004, but soon they decided to move it to Mykhaylo Zhvanetsky Boulevard.

The monument is an orange placed on a pedestal with the peel removed from one half and several segments removed. Instead of these particles, the figure of the Russian Emperor Paul I is inserted inside the orange. The sculptural composition includes three horses harnessed to the orange. The most famous buildings of Odesa are located on the orangery: the Opera House, the Transfiguration Cathedral, the colonnade of the Vorontsov Palace.

The equestrian monument to the general Suvorov, who led the capture of the Turkish fortress Izmail in 1790, was made in 1913 by the Odesa sculptor Borys Eduards for the memorial in Rymnik (Romania).

Shortly after the beginning of the First World War, the sculpture was evacuated. For a long time, she stood in the workshop of a sculptor in Odesa. According to another version, the Roman sculpture disappeared during the war, and Edwards' workshop kept a copy, which he created specifically for the installation of the monument in Ishmael. Only in 1945, the statue was transported to Izmail and installed on the central avenue of the city. A copy of this monument was installed in Tulchyn (Vinnytsia region).

On December 1, 2022, during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the monument to Suvorov in Izmail was dismantled by the decision of the deputies of the Izmail City Council. The further fate of this monument should be determined by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

The monument to Empress Catherine II and her associates (Platon Zubov, Hryhoriy Potomkin, Frants de Volan, Yosyp Derybas) was erected for the 100th anniversary of the Odesa.

In Soviet times, it was replaced by a monument to the Potemkinites.

The revival of the monument in 2007 was accompanied by protests by national patriots who opposed the perpetuation of the memory of the oppressor who eliminated Ukraine's independence.

On December 28, 2022, during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, by the decision of the Odesa City Council, the monument to Catherine was dismantled and transferred to the Odesa Art Museum.

Mother-in-Law Bridge is the popular name of the pedestrian bridge over the Viyskovy descent in Odesa, which connects Prymorsky Boulevard with Zhvanetsky Boulevard.

According to legend, the bridge was built in 1969 by the order of the first secretary of the Odesa regional committee of the Communist Party, Mykhaylo Sinytsia, so that it would be more convenient for him to get from the boulevard through the ravine while visiting his mother-in-law.

The bridge vibrates noticeably underfoot when there is a large crowd of people. According to tradition, the newlyweds leave locks on the railings of the Mother-in-Law Bridge, symbolizing the strength of the marriage.

Nearby, there is a mini-reserve "Corner of Old Odesa", in which various elements of the city's decor are collected.

The Museum "Secrets of Underground Odesa" tells about the famous Odesa catacombs, on which stands the whole city. Their total length is estimated at about 2.5 thousand kilometers.

Most of Odesa's catacombs are underground quarries, in which the building stone rakushnyak, which was used to build most of the city's buildings, was mined. The system of catacombs also includes cavities of natural origin - karst and dilatancy caves.

At various times, the catacombs served as transshipment bases for smugglers, "raspberries" for gangs, places to gather underground, shelters for guerrilla and sabotage units, bomb shelters.

The museum in the dungeons on Moldavanka was established in 2013 by the military-historical club "Military Valor". Entering the catacombs, visitors are immersed in the past of the city. Here you can see the anti-nuclear bunker, go through the flooded part, visit the wild catacombs, visit the guerrilla parking lot and bandit raspberries and more.

The Museum of Maritime Glory was opened in the premises of the Odesa Maritime School named after Oleksandr Marynesko.

The organizers and founders of the museum were members of the Association of Submarines, who together with the school prepared the exposition.

The exhibition is devoted to the development of the naval fleet from the time of the establishment of the school until now. The main exposition tells about the Odesa submariner Oleksandr Marynesko, who carried out the legendary "Attack of the Century" during the Second World War. In 1945, the submarine S-13 under the command of Marinesko sank the German ship "Wilhelm Gustloff", on board of which there were more than 3 thousand soldiers and officers. As a result, significant damage was done to the fleet of Nazi Germany.

Entrance to the museum is free.

Museum of Odesa Modern Art was created in 2008 by businessman, intellectual and philanthropist Vadym Morokhovsky.

The exposition is based on the unique collection of works of the "second wave of the Odesa avant-garde" by Mykhaylo Knobel, significantly expanded during the museum's existence.

Of particular interest are the halls of non-conformist art of the 60s and 70s and the "New South Russian Wave" of the 80s and 90s.

A separate hall is dedicated to the legendary "fenced" exhibition of Valentyn Khrushch and Stanislav Sychov in 1967, which became the first unauthorized Soviet art action.

The Museum also has an exhibition hall and a gallery where contemporary art exhibitions, conferences and various art projects are held.

The Museum of Sound in Odesa is an exclusive collection of historical rarities of sound equipment, an exhibition of audio equipment, an exposition of all generations of sound carriers, a club of live music and musicians, a professional sound recording studio, a school of sound engineers and DJs.

The collection was assembled by Odesa sound engineer Vasyl Pinchuk, head of the Odesa regional organization of the All-Ukrainian Union of Sound Engineers.

The exposition presents gramophones and gramophones, radios and tape recorders, vinyl records, film cassettes, audio cassettes, CDs, posters, posters, record labels - with the logos of numerous companies and record factories that changed each other throughout the century.

The Museum of the History of the Jews of Odesa "Migdal-Shorashim" was opened on the initiative of the Migdal Jewish Community Center in Odesa.

His exhibition is located in a small apartment and reflects the history of the Jewish community, which is inextricably linked with the culture of Odesa.

The permanent exhibition includes about a thousand items: documents, photographs, books, newspapers, postcards, religious and household items, musical instruments, works of art and more.

Odesa Museum of Western and Oriental Art is one of the best museums in the country in this field.

Occupies the former palace of the landowner Oleksiy Abaza, built in 1856-1858 by architect Louis Cesar Otto. The house is made in an eclectic style: baroque features coexist with elements of Empire and Rococo styles. The "swinging" grand staircase in the lobby, carved from Carrara marble, erected without load-bearing beams-kosour together with the platforms form a spectacular hanging structure. The interiors of the Abaza Palace are rich in stucco decor, carvings, bronze fittings.

The Museum of Western and Oriental Art was founded in Odesa in 1923 on the basis of private collections collected by the local committee for the protection of monuments of art and antiquity.

The exhibition presents paintings by Dutch masters, porcelain of the best European factories of the XVIII-XX centuries, sculptures and ceramics of Iran, Tibet, China, India and Japan. Pearls of the collection: "Saint Luke" and "Saint Matthew" by the great Dutchman Frans Hals , "Madonna on the Throne" by the Florentine painter of the 16th century. Francesco Granacci, "Endangered Cupid" by Etienne Falcone, as well as unique woodcuts by the famous Japanese master Katsushiki Hokusai from the series "Book of Birds".

The Odesa Municipal Museum-Apartment of Mykhaylo Zhvanetsky was founded in 2021 by the decision of the Odesa City Council on the initiative of the writer's wife Nataliya Zhvanetska.

The memorial exposition is to be located in an old Odesa building near Pryvoz, where the famous satirist and People's Artist of Ukraine Mykhaylo Zhvanetsky has lived with his mother since 1945. This apartment was a legendary meeting place for his friends, including famous actors and singers, writers and poets.

The rooms on the second floor will recreate the atmosphere of the 1980s and house an exhibition. The veranda on which the writer liked to work will be available for visiting. A souvenir shop will open on the ground floor. There will also be a yard with a water column.

The creation of the museum is supervised by the World Club of Odesa residents, which for many years was headed by Mykhaylo Zhvanetsky.

The Odesa building-museum named after Mykola Roerich was opened in 2000.

Five halls present the works of Mykola and Svyatoslav Roerich (reproductions); a pupil of Mykola Roerich – Borys Smyrnov-Rusetskyi; Artur Fonvizin; Vira Yasnopolska; paintings by Ilze Rudzite, Valeriy Lavrinov and Odesa artists.

In the center of the Teachers' Hall is a relief map-model with the route of the Central Asian expedition of the Roerichs, which lasted 5 years (1923-1928).

In the room of the Roerich family, portraits of all family members by Svyatoslav Roerich are exhibited, as well as canvases dedicated to two great religions and their followers: Orthodox Christianity and the Buddhist East.

In the room of the Roerich family, the literary heritage of all family members and art albums of their works are presented.

The building of the Odesa National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet is considered one of the most beautiful in the world.

It was created by Viennese architects Hermann Helmer and Ferdynand Felner, who also built theaters in Vienna, Budapest, Dresden, and Zagreb. The building is richly decorated in the Renaissance style with Baroque elements. A sculpture of the art muse Melpomene rises above the facade.

The auditorium in the French "rococo" style is impressive. On the ceiling are four paintings by Lefleur with scenes from Shakespeare's works, a luxurious chandelier. Petro Chaykovskyi, Mykola Rymskyi-Korsakov, Serhiy Rakhmaninov performed their works here, Fedir Shalyapin and Solomiya Krushelnytska sang, and Anna Pavlova danced.

In the repertoire: "Giselle", "Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker", "Don Quixote", "Carmen Suite" and others.

The museum of the Opera Theater is open, and tours are held.

The Old Believer Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin in Vylkove was built in 1854-1857.

According to legend, the temple stands on the site of the first wooden church, which was built in the 18th century by the Old Believers who moved to these regions, Lypovans. The bell tower with a height of 32 meters was added 19 years after the construction of the main building.

In 1954, the church was closed, in 1980 part of the building burned down. In the 1990s, the revival of the church began. The bell tower offers a wonderful panorama of the city, the river and the canals.

The ruins of the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary are located in the center of the small village of Kamyanka.

The neo-Gothic stone church was built in 1850 at the expense of German colonists.

Currently in a dilapidated state.