Attractions of Odesa

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 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".

Odesa Champagne Wine Factory was founded in 1896 as "Henry Roederer Champagne Factory". In 1899, the factory was opened and the first batch of "Heinrich Roederer" champagne was released.

Dry, well-ventilated cellars were adapted for the long-term aging of 2 million bottles of champagne. Roeder's champagne was awarded a medal in 1904 at the World Exhibition in Paris (the "semi-dry" brand) and the Grand Silver Medal in 1910 at the Trade and Industrial Exhibition in Odesa (the "dry" brand).

Until 2018, the factory's production facilities were used by the tenant - PrJSC "Odesa Champagne Factory" for the production and bottling of champagne and sparkling wines. The Odessa Champagne Factory produced 15 million bottles of champagne of 34 types per year under the trademarks "Odesa", "L'Odesika" and "Henri Roederer". During the tour, visitors were introduced to the entire technological process: from the acceptance of wine materials to the finished product. After the tour, a tasting was held under the guidance of an experienced champagne technologist.

Since January 2018, production activities at the Odesa Champagne Wine Factory have been stopped.

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.