Attractions of Odesa

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.

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.

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.

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

The "Steppe Ukraine" Museum was established in Odesa in 1925. Ukrainian folk culture was represented by collections of embroidery, carpets, ceramics, toys that came from the Black Sea region, Podillya, Middle Dnipro, Polissya, etc. The museum's collections numbered about two thousand exhibits. As a result of the Soviet authorities' curtailment of the policy of "Ukrainization" and local history research, the museum was closed in 1931, a significant part of the museum's collection was transferred to the Odesa Historical and Local Lore Museum, and most of the museum's employees were repressed.

After Ukraine gained independence, in April 2006, the Steppe Ukraine Museum was revived as a branch of the Odesa Historical and Local Lore Museum.

The first part of the museum's exposition tells about the creation of "Steppe Ukraine", its founders and activists, and the traditions of museum work. Here, the traditional interior of a Ukrainian manor house is recreated.

In the second part of the exhibition, through the creation of residential complexes, an idea of ​​the material and spiritual culture of the main ethnic groups of the region is given - Old Believers, Greeks, Jews, Karaites, Moldovans, Gagauzes, Bulgarian and German colonists. The main element of each complex is a national costume, around which are placed weaving products, dishes, furniture, household tools, and products of decorative and applied art.

The memorial house-museum of the outstanding Ukrainian academician Volodymyr Filatov is located in Odesa on Frantsuzky Boulevard next to the Institute of Eye Diseases founded by him.

The exposition of the house-museum introduces not only the personality and activities of Filatov, but also the cultural and historical context of the late 19th - mid-20th centuries - the dwelling itself, furniture, personal belongings of the scientist are exhibits reflecting the life and everyday life of that period. The exposition contains unique photographs, manuscripts, letters, rare publications, personal belongings and photographic materials of the family of Academician Filatov.

In addition to the house-museum, the Museum-Exhibition Complex named after Volodymyr Filatov also includes the Academician's Cabinet-Museum, located in the main building of the Institute of Eye Diseases.

The original building of the Arab Cultural Center in Odesa has every chance of becoming an architectural monument.

The large Moorish-style house was built in 2001 at the expense of Arab businessman Adnan Kivan. The mosque stands out strongly in the urban development and is a real eastern pearl of Odesa.

When entering the prayer hall, men and women must remove their shoes, and women are issued long robes with hoods. In the prayer hall, openwork elm on the stair railings and architectural elements make the interior decoration of the mosque elegant and airy. Apart from a few small bookshelves on both sides of the hall, there is no other furniture. The entire floor is covered with a soft carpet, the pattern of which seems to divide the carpet into equal squares, which serve as conventional delimitation of the seats for those who pray. Under the ceiling, the main decoration is a large crystal chandelier shining with hundreds of lights.

The Arab Cultural Center in Odesa is open for tours that introduce visitors to Arab culture. There is an Arabic language school and a library.

Arkadiya is a resort area of ​​the city, the Odesa Riviera, the center of night life.

It is famous for its modern, well-equipped beaches and a large number of restaurants, night clubs and other entertainment facilities that work around the clock during the holiday season.

There are hotels, sanatoriums, rest houses, a water clinic, and a resort polyclinic located on the park territory near the sea.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the main Roman Catholic church of Odesa.

Its construction began in 1848 according to the project of Franchesko Morandi with the support of the governor of the Novorossiya region, Count Vorontsov. Before that, there was a small church in the city, built in 1822 according to the project of Giovanni Frapolli on the territory that was allocated to Catholics in 1805 by the first mayor of Odesa, Dyuk de Rishelye.

In 1935, the church was closed, a local history museum was placed in it, and after the Second World War - a sports complex. The marble altars were destroyed, the shape of the Gothic windows was changed, and the stone vaults were destroyed.

Only in 1991, the church was returned to the Catholic community of the city. General of the infantry Count Oleksandr Lanzheron is buried here.

The Bread Museum in Odesa was opened in 2008 on the occasion of its 10th anniversary by "Odeskyi korovai" on the basis of the bakery No. 4. In 2009, the museum received the status of a "People's Museum".

The museum exposition introduces visitors to the history of the development of bread baking in the Odesa region and the history of the creation and operation of the bakery enterprises "Odeskyi korovai".

The museum stores documents, photographs and other materials related to bread baking, about the activities of the bakery factories. Some of the materials are copies from the city archive, private collections of citizens and the local history museum. Thematic stands collect unique materials: decrees of the mayors of Odesa from the end of the 18th century, the Statutes of the bakery enterprise, old recipes and technologies for making bread, documents and photographs from the period of World War II and the post-war period.

The Museum of Bread systematically organizes thematic exhibitions: "Bread of War", "Easter Pastries", "Christmas Baking", etc.

The building was built in the style of classicism (architect Franz Boffo) for the Odesa Commodity Exchange. The main facade is decorated with 12 columns and sculptures. Later, the City Duma (now the Odesa City Council) was located here.

On the square in front of the Duma, an ancient 250-pound trophy cast-iron cannon from the sunken English steam frigate "Tiger" has been installed in memory of the Crimean War.

The monument to Pushkin, created in 1888 at the expense of the townspeople, was installed at the beginning of Prymorsky Boulevard with its back to the Duma (according to legend, this is how the townspeople expressed their attitude to the city authorities, who allocated not a penny from the budget for the monument).

The City Garden in Odesa is the oldest public park in the city and one of the main centers of the city's social life.

This is a small square with an area of ​​about 1.5 hectares at the end of Derybasivska Street, in the block between Derybasivska and Lanzheronivska, not far from Soborna Square. Founded in 1803 by Feliks de Rybas, the brother of the founder of Odesa, Yosyp Derybas, as a private kindergarten on his own plot of land, it was later transferred to the city.

The main decoration of the City Garden is a two-hundred-year-old fountain with a bowl made of Carrara marble. The Summer Theater of the City Philharmonic (1949, architect Rehina Volodymyrska), the music pavilion-rotunda (1943), as well as several original sculptures are located here: the monument to Leonid Utyosov, the monument to Serhiy Utochnik, the sculptures "Lion" and "Lion ", the monument to the "Twelfth Chair".

The country's first Contraband museum was opened in Odesa by businessman and former military man Oleksandr Otdyelnov.

The museum is located in the basement of an old house on Evropeyskaya Street. The museum's exposition contains more than 150 items of confiscated contraband and illustrations of the methods of their illegal import.

In particular, you can see porcelain services with heroin inside, cocaine caches in various objects, car doors stuffed with cigarette packs, a model of an underground passage dug under the state border near Uzhhorod.

Visitors are also introduced to how smugglers used the Odessa catacombs.

ATTENTION! The Contraband Museum ceased operations in 2021.

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".

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.