Attractions of Odesa region

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.

Odesa Port Museum named after Frants de Volan was founded in 1990 on the initiative of the port worker and collector Mykola Hlib-Koshansky, and was opened for the 200th anniversary of Odesa.

The museum is located in the ancient building of the barge - a night house for port loaders.

The exhibition is based on a unique collection of documents dedicated to the history of the construction and development of the Odesa seaport, founded in 1796 according to the plans of the Dutch engineer Frants de Volan. In particular, de Voland's plans for the development of the city and the harbor are presented.

There is also an exhibition of the naval museum, which was previously located in the building of the Odesa Sea Station. The pride of the museum is several hundred ship models.

Excursions are conducted with a visit to the museum and the port.

Odesa Regional Academic Drama Theater, the oldest theater in the south of Ukraine, was built in 1875 by the merchant Velikanov, and was intended for the performances of the drama troupe beloved by Odesa residents by the famous provincial actor and entrepreneur Mykola Myloslavskyi.

Initially, the theater was named after the owner "Velikanov Theater", but in 1875 Velikanov sold the theater to Feliks Rafalovych, who called it the Russian Theater. Before the Bolshevik coup of 1917, the Russian theater served as the venue for the city's biggest theatrical events. Stars of the world stage played here: Sara Bernard, Volodymyr Davydov, Mariya Zankovetska, Panas Saksahanskyi, Mark Kropyvnytskyi and others. During the years of Soviet power, the state Odesa Russian Drama Theater was finally registered in this building.

In 2003, it opened after almost two years of reconstruction. Having preserved several of the best performances created earlier, the theater has performed a number of new high-profile productions.

On March 2, 2022, in connection with Russia's large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the theater team made a decision to rename the theater - the word "Russian" was removed from its name.

The Odesa Regional Philharmonic is located in a massive gray building built in 1899 according to a sketch project by the Viennese architect Vikentiy Prohaska, redesigned by the outstanding Italian architect Oleksandr Bernardatstsi in the style of Italian Gothic with elements of the Renaissance.

It was originally built as the New Merchant Exchange. The acoustics of her hall were planned in such a way that the merchants who traded on the stock exchange could not overhear each other's conversations. In 1949, the building of the New Exchange was rebuilt for the Philharmonic, however, according to Odesa residents, the acoustics in it are still bad.

The wooden ceiling of the hall is made without a single nail from Lebanese cedar, gilded and painted. The walls of the hall are decorated with 6 panels by the artist Mykola Karazin.

The Odesa Zoo is located in Preobrazhenskyi Park near the railway station and Pryvoz.

The zoo was founded in Odessa in 1922, and was originally located on Primorsky Boulevard in the area of ​​the lower garden of the Vorontsov Palace. It was opened in the current location in 1937.

The Odesa Zoo contains rare animals listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the European Red List and the Red Book of Ukraine - 24 species: Far Eastern leopards, horses, baboons-hamadrils, brown bears, steppe cranes, peregrine falcons, owls and many more others

The Odesa Zoo is the only one in Ukraine where Indian elephants have successfully bred and became the happy parents of three baby elephants.

Excursions are conducted by advance order.

The Oleksandr Pushkin Literary Memorial Museum was opened in the building of the former Hotel du Nord, where the poet lived for a month during a visit to Odesa in 1823.

In Odesa he created the poem "Gypsies", completed the poem "Bakhchysaray fontan", wrote thirty lyric poems and two and a half chapters of the novel "Yevheniy Onyehin".

The exhibition presents engravings of Pushkin's Odesa, portraits of the poet's contemporaries, his drawings, rare lifetime publications.

The author's historical and local lore museum was created in Vylkove by the artist Oleksandr Sharonov in 2002. The museum is located in the city center.

The exposition was based on 54 artistic canvases of the artist, as well as icons, household items of the Old Believers and other peoples who lived on the territory of Bessarabia (Antians, Goths, Greeks, Scythians, Romans, Turks and others).

The museum exhibits weapons from the times of Transdanubian Sich, Russian-Turkish wars, and World War II.

The Oleksandrivsky barracks were built in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in 1828-1838 by order of the Russian Emperor Oleksandr I in order to strengthen the border of the empire in Bessarabia.

The complex occupies an area of ​​2.6 hectares on the high bank of the Dniester estuary. It consists of officers' buildings and soldiers' barracks in an oriental style.

For a long time, the Oleksandrivsky barracks were used for their intended purpose - they housed a military unit. In 2001, the complex was transferred to the communal ownership of the city and since then it has been gradually falling into disrepair. The main building was destroyed by fire.

The monument to the ancient Roman poet Publius Ovidius Nazon, known in English as Ovid, in whose honor Ovidiopol is named, is located in a picturesque place on the banks of the Dniester estuary.

Ovid is known as the author of Metamorphoses and The Science of Love. He spent the rest of his life in exile in the northeastern provinces of the Roman Empire (most likely, on the territory of modern Romanian Constanta). In the 18th century, it was believed that the place of Ovid's exile was on the eastern bank of the Dniester estuary, so in 1795 the Tatar settlement Khadzhyher located here was renamed Ovidiopol.

The Museum of History and Local Lore of the Ovidiopol Village Council was founded in 1980.

The exposition covers the history of the region from ancient times. In particular, the archeological collection includes fragments of stucco ware, stone axes and graters, fishing sinkers, bones of animals and fish, as well as unique finds from the excavations of the Adzhyder fortress in Ovidiopol: Chios amphora, red clay pottery crater, two amphorae, two amphorae and a coin of Philip II (father of Oleksandr Makedonsky).

In the hall "Ukrainian room" are collected household items that in ancient times were in every Ukrainian home. The new exposition "Treasures from the attic" presents antiques donated to the museum by citizens.

Hotel "Passage" on Deribasivska Street is one of the most beautiful buildings in Odesa, which impresses with the sophistication of its architecture and sculptural compositions (architect Lev Vlodek).

From the beginning, it was designed as a hotel and shopping center. In the courtyard there is a whole street with rows of high-end shops. The high glass roof above the gallery adds to the sense of vastness and brings light into the building.

It remains one of the few hotels in the historic center where you can stay relatively inexpensively.

The old building of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Pedagogical Vocational College was built in 1900 for a male gymnasium.

An architectural monument of local importance.

There is a large square in front of the choir, where local residents like to relax.

Arboretum Peremohy (Victory) in the resort district of Odesa Arkadiya was founded in 1960. It occupies an area of 55 hectares.

More than 500 species of trees and shrubs, including heat-loving exotics, have been planted in the park. On Druzhba Avenue, trees were planted by cosmonauts Valeriy Bykovsky, Heorhiy Shonin, and members of hero city delegations. There is a system of artificial ponds with fountains.

Many scenes of the film "Adventures of Electronics" were filmed here.

Peremohy Park is considered one of the best in Odesa, especially after the recent reconstruction.

The Podilsk City Museum of Local Lore was opened in the then Kotovsk in 1961.

It was originally housed in a historic building of the beginning of the 20th century and was dedicated mainly to the Bolshevik leader Heorhiy Kotovsky, the commander of the Red Army units and an active participant in the "Red Terror" on the territory of Ukraine, who died in Odesa and was buried in the mausoleum in Podilsk. The exposition also told about the history of the city, its economic and cultural development.

In 1980, an art gallery was opened, where the works of local artists are presented: Leonid Hryhorashchenko, Mykola Slipchenko and others.

Since 2008, the Podilsk Museum of Local Lore has been located in the city's cultural center. It has three exhibition halls on the history and nature of the region. The picture gallery is also used for exhibitions of works by folk craftsmen.