Attractions of Odesa region

The ruins of the palace of lieutenant colonel Ivan Kuris in Kurisove, a companion of Suvorov who became famous during the 2nd Turkish War, are often called "Petrivsky Castle" or "Kuris Castle".

The lieutenant colonel received the Pokrovske estate (now Kurisove) as a reward for his participation in the Black Sea campaign. He began building the palace in 1810, settling in Pokrovske after his release from the service. The shape of the building resembled a medieval castle, and elements of Gothic and Moorish architecture were used in the design.

In 1892, the descendants of Ivan Kuris reconstructed the palace, inviting the famous Odesa architect Mykola Tolvinsky. The third floor was added, a wide terrace and majestic mirror stairs, new towers, balconies and minarets appeared.

After the Bolshevik coup, the Kuris manor was occupied by an agricultural school, and during the Second World War by the Romanian commandant's office.

After the fire in 1990, the palace was not restored, but the ruins still impress with their grandeur. An English-style park with canals and a pond has also been preserved. Currently, "Kuris Palace" is located on the territory of Tylihul Agrarian Vocational College.

In 2020, the Kuris Palace-Manor was recognized as a monument of cultural heritage of Ukraine.

The Lutheran church in Sarata was built and opened in 1840 by German colonists who settled here in 1822. An organ was installed in the church.

After the eviction of the Germans from Bessarabia, the church was closed, the building was not used for its intended purpose - it housed the officers' house, then the cultural center.

Only in 1995, thanks to donations from Germany, the Lutheran church was reconstructed and consecrated again.

The Memorial of the Heroic Defense of Odesa was opened in 1975 on the site of the 411 coastal battery that defended the city in 1941 during the offensive of Romanian troops.

Located on the southern outskirts of Odesa.

The memorial complex includes a museum, an outdoor exhibition of military equipment, a coastal defense battery, and a park.

The Museum of Military Glory and the Afghan War was opened in the premises of the Odesa Regional Union of Afghanistan Veterans in 2014, on the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

The museum exposition includes 450 exhibits. These are Afghan newspapers, talk books, Afghan money, photographs, as well as samples of weapons and military equipment: anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, body armor, helmets, gas masks, etc.

A monument to the legendary founder of the village of Lypovanske, from which the modern Vylkove originates, was installed on the city pier for the 250th anniversary of the city.

It was founded in the 18th century by Orthodox Old Believers from Lypovans who were hiding from the persecution of the reformed Russian Orthodox Church. It is believed that the traditions of seafaring in Vylkove were laid down by fugitive Zaporozhian Cossacks who also settled here.

The monument of the work of the Odesa sculptor Oleksandr Tokarev depicts a plastered pioneer with a cross in his hands, descending to the shore from a boat. The sculpture is installed near the wharf, from which excursions along the Vylkove canals and the Danube floodplains usually depart.

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".