Attractions of Odesa region

The museum complex "Nerubaiske Catacombs" was created on the basis of a part of the Odesa catacombs, in which Odesa partisans hid during the Second World War.

Odessa catacombs are considered the largest and most confusing artificial labyrinth in the world - about 2.5-3 thousand kilometers. They arose as a result of underground mining of building stone - rakushnyak, which was used in the construction of almost all existing buildings in the city since the 18th century. Neglected cuttings are connected to each other by tunnels and passages, which the Odesans dug from their basements. During the Portofranco period, the catacombs were actively used by smugglers who could use them to deliver goods from the seashore outside the city limits.

In 1941-1942, 70 people of the partisan unit, left in the Nerubaiske catacombs, were active in sabotage and intelligence work, were walled up by the Romanian occupiers, and almost all of them died.

After the war, the Partizanska Slava memorial complex-museum was opened here. The situation of those times has been restored based on the stories of eyewitnesses. On an area of about 1,000 square meters, the attributes of partisan life and samples of weapons are presented in underground labyrinths. Patriotic inscriptions calling for victory over the Nazis have been preserved on the walls.

Nicholas church - a new Old Believer church, built at the beginning of the 20th century on the territory of the village of Novo-Vylkove, on the island of Kalymbeika.

The church is clearly visible from the Danube and is admired by all who come to the city by water. The light and dark blue colors of the walls against the background of the sky create a floating effect.

The interior decoration corresponds to Lipovan traditions - the church is divided into men's and women's halves, benches are provided only for elderly and sick people.

The Puppet Theater was founded in Odesa in 1923 at the Theater of the Young Spectator. He was headed by his student and associate of Serhiy Obraztsov - Yuzef Himmelfarb.

In 1944, the puppet theater received a separate room.

In the 1970s and 1990s, the Odesa Puppet Theater became a laureate and winner of many international festivals - in Bulgaria, Moldova, Japan, Romania, Finland, and the Netherlands. The work of the theater was awarded the Eduard Bahrytskyi prize and numerous awards.

The Odesa Academic Theater of Musical Comedy named after Mykhaylo Vodyanyi has been at the center of the cultural life of Odesa for more than 50 years, and its performances are admired throughout the country.

The new modern building of the musical comedy theater with 1300 seats was built in 1981 according to the project of Odesa architect Henrikh Topuz.

Today it is one of the most modern and technically equipped theater venues in Odesa. The troupe unites People's Artists of Ukraine Yevheniya Dembska, Volodymyr Frolov, Olha Ohanezova, Natalya Zavhorodna, Honored Artists of Ukraine Idaliya Ivanova, Victoriya Frolova, Stanislav Kovalevskyi, Mykola Zavhorodnyi, Tamara Tyshchenko, Emil Silyn, Alina Semenova, Aurika Akhmetova, Serhiy Lukashenko and others .

The Odesa Academic Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater named after Vasyl Vasylko opened in 1925 as the Odesa State Drama.

Currently, it is located in the building of the former Sibyryakov Theater, built in 1903 at the expense of patron and entrepreneur Oleksandr Sibyryakov. The building was designed in a classical style by architect Semen Landesman. Many celebrities performed in the Sibiryakov Theater, in particular. American dancer Isadora Duncan.

Since 1930, the Odesa Ukrainian State Drama has been housed in this building. A new Ukrainian drama was born on this stage: it was here that the plays of Oleksandr Korniychuk, Ivan Mykytenko, Mykola Kulish, Ivan Dniprovskyi, Yakov Mamontov and others were staged for the first time.

In 1995, the theater received the name of the outstanding Ukrainian theater actor Vasyl Vasylko, who for many years led the theater team.

Odesa Archaeological Museum is one of the first museums in Ukraine.

Founded by Ivan Blaramberg, who donated part of his collection of antiquities.

The development was facilitated by the Odesa Society of History and Antiquities, founded in 1839, which had the right to conduct excavations in southern Russia.

The collection includes more than 150,000 items: monuments of history and culture of the Northern Black Sea Coast, Ancient Greece and Rome. The best collections of Egyptian antiquities in Ukraine (sarcophagi, mummies of people and animals, jewelry, etc.).

The "Golden Pantry" exhibits real things made of precious metals, the oldest of which date back to the beginning of the second millennium BC.

A copy of the ancient Greek sculpture "Laokoon" is installed in front of the entrance.

On the night of July 20, 2023, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the building of the Odesa Archaeological Museum suffered significant damage as a result of a massive missile attack on Odesa by the Russian army.

The Museum-Reserve "Odesa Catacombs" combines ancient quarries for the extraction of building stone, military bunkers and bomb shelters, as well as real natural caves.

The total length of the underground passages of the museum is about 10 km. The dungeons of the museum-reserve Odesa Catacombs are recognized as an object of cultural heritage of the city. The quarries are located at a depth of 15-25 m below the city quarters within the streets of Balkivska, Dalnytska, Babelya, Mykhaylivska, in the former suburb of the city, which has the historical name "Moldovanka".

The Odesa Catacombs Museum-Reserve more than 30 quarries, united at different times into a single underground labyrinth. The oldest workings are located in the southern part of the K-24 district ("Rozumovsky Massif").

Ancient masonry, miners' wells, flooded labyrinths combined with messages on the walls of past years create an atmosphere of unknown and mysterious. The museum also has the opportunity to see one of the natural karst caves "Odesa-1".

The Odesa State Circus is one of the oldest in Ukraine and one of the first stationary circuses on the territory of the Russian Empire.

The first circus in Odesa was opened in 1879, but it lasted only 10 years. The current circus building was built in 1894 by the entrepreneur Vilhelm Santsenbakhyer. The Odesa circus was immediately nicknamed "iron", because its frame is made of German-made metal, the composition of which is unknown, but it does not rust and cannot be welded. The unusualness of the Odesa Circus also lies in the fact that the distance from the arena to the dome is 22 meters, while the standard is 18 meters. The hall accommodated 2,300 spectators.

Since 1908, the head of the Odesa circus was Gendarmerie Colonel Malovich. In the summer, the circus building was used as a "Palace Theater" cinema. Wrestling championships were held in the circus with the participation of the best wrestlers of Russia and foreign countries.

After the events of 1917, the Odesa Circus building became the property of the city council. In 1925, the Odesa Circus received state status.

The arcade and two towers of the Quarantine, as well as the remains of the Andriyivskyi bastion - all that remains of the defense structures of the Odesa fortress.

The earthen fortress was laid in 1793-1794 by General Oleksandr Suvorov after the destruction of the Turkish fortress Khadzhybey. A quarantine with a long wall and two towers at its ends was built next to it in 1807. Two more walls went down to Quarantine Harbor. The fortress existed for less than 20 years, was legally liquidated in 1811 "as recognized as incapable of defense" and handed over to Quarantine.

Currently, the Chornomorets stadium is located on the site of the Suvorov fortress in the Central Park of Culture and Recreation named after Taras Shevchenko. A part of the arcade of the Quarantine Wall has been preserved, the Powder Tower adjacent to it, the separate Mortuary Tower (it had a morgue), as well as the Andriyivsky Bastion of the Odesa Fortress, on which the Oleksandrivska Column was later installed (1891).

A picturesque panorama of the seaport opens from the arcade.

The Odesa funicular, located next to the Potomkinski Stairs, was created in 1902 according to the project of Mykola Pyatnytskyi.

This is the first funicular in Ukraine. At first, wagons with gear transmission, which were issued from Paris, worked here. Nowadays, there are modern inclined elevators, that is, the cabins move independently of each other along separate paths.

The upper station of the Odesa funicular is located on Prymorsky Boulevard, next to the Duke monument. There is a souvenir shop in the pavilion. A cafe is open in the premises of the lower station.

The Odesa Museum of History and Local Lore is located in the former palace of industrialist Oleksandr Novikov, built in 1876 according to the project of architect Feliks Honsiorovsky. Late Italian Renaissance forms are used in the architecture.

After the Soviet-Ukrainian war at the beginning of the 20th century, a club, a library, party courses, etc. were located in "Novikov's house".

The first museum exposition about the defense of Odessa was placed here in 1948. And in 1956, the Odesa State Historical and Local Lore Museum was opened.

Now the collection of the museum has about 120 thousand exhibits. The basis of the exposition is made up of documents, printed publications, works of applied and visual arts, numismatic collections, weapons of the XVII-XIX centuries from the collections of the Museum of the Odesa Society of History and Antiquities, the Book Museum, the Museum of Old Odessa and others.

The interior of the ceremonial office of the governor-general of the beginning of the 19th century has been recreated.

The courtyard of the museum with a miniature park and an elegant fountain "Grot" is especially interesting.

The Odesa Literary Museum is one of the most visited museums in Odesa located in the palace of the XIX century (architect Luyi Sezar Otton), which belonged to Prince Dmytro Haharin.

In the second half of the century Haharin transferred the palace to the city, in 1899-1903 there were meetings of the Literary and Artistic Society. Chic interiors have been preserved.

The museum was founded in 1977. Each of the 20 halls reflects the artistic image of the decade to which it is dedicated.

In the museum yard there is a garden of sculptures with flower beds, a fountain, medieval statues and modern humorous bronze miniature monuments in honor of the heroes of Odesa folklore: Eternal Jew Rabynovych, Future Genius, Mykhaylo Zhvanetskyi, Denim Dyuk, Kostya-sailor and more.

On the night of July 20, 2023, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the building of the Odesa Literary Museum suffered significant damage as a result of a massive missile attack on Odesa by the Russian army. The blast wave damaged most of the windows, the interiors of the museum were damaged, the ceiling in two halls collapsed, and the exhibits were damaged.

The Odesa Municipal Museum of Personal Collections was created on the basis of personal collections of works of art by the famous Soviet climber Oleksandr Bleschunov.

A meeting of the Odesa intelligentsia was held in his communal apartment, whose representatives helped him to collect a collection of paintings and antiques.

In 1989, the collector donated his collections to the city and until his death in 1991 remained head of the museum.

The exposition presents the exhibitions "Russian Antiquities", "Buddhist East", "Western Europe", "Muslim East", "Odesa woman" and others.

The first specialized numismatic museum in Ukraine appeared in Odesa on the occasion of the 205th anniversary of the city.

The founder is the oldest public organization in Odesa - Odesa City Society of Collectors.

The museum collection includes more than 2.5 thousand coins and other exhibits. All periods in the history of the origin of civilization and statehood on Ukrainian soil, as well as the history of coinage and money circulation of Ukraine from ancient times to the period of independent development of the state are presented.

Also on display are antique pottery and ancient Rus small sculptures. In particular, metal pendant badges with signs of princely power of the Rurik family.

The artistic treasures of Odesa are preserved and popularized by the Odesa National Art Museum (OFAM).

He has an outstanding collection of all kinds of fine arts: painting, graphics, sculpture, arts and crafts, icon painting by Ukrainian and Russian masters from the XVI century to the present, numbering more than 10 thousand original works.

The museum is located in the ancient Potocki-Naryshkin Palace, which was built in 1823-1826 by Countess Olha Potocka (married to Naryshkin), daughter of Stanislav and Sofiya Potocki. The construction was supervised by the Italian architect Franchesko Boffo. This is a typical noble estate in the style of classicism with a two-story central building and side wings, which are connected by round galleries. The decoration of the ceiling, marble and parquet floors with inlay has been preserved. In the basement of the building there is an artificial cave with a grotto, which is connected by underground passages with the catacombs of Odesa (visit only accompanied by a guide).

In 1888 the palace was bought by Odesa Mayor Hryhoriy Marazli, and in 1899 on the initiative of the Odesa Society of Fine Arts it opened the City Museum of Fine Arts, which still functions as the Odesa National Art Museum.

The exhibition presents works by Vasyl Tropinin, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Aivazovskyi, Oleksiy Savrasov, Ivan Shishkin, Illya Repin, Mykola Pymonenko, Oleksandr Murashko, Arkhyp Kuyindzhi, Mykhaylo Vrubel, Mykola Rerikh, Oleksandr Benua, Zinayida Serebryakova. Vasyl Kandynsky's "Sunlit Street" is considered a world-class masterpiece.

On the evening of November 5, 2023, Russia launched a massive missile attack on the historic center of Odesa. As a result of the Onyx and Iskander-M missiles, the Odesa National Art Museum, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, suffered significant damage. In the museum, the walls were damaged, the windows and glass were broken, and the high-pressure water pipe was damaged.