Odessa

About Odessa

Odessa, often called “The Pearl of the Black Sea”, is one of the Ukrainian top cities in culture, science, education, literature, music and many other spheres of life.

The city has a vibrancy all of its own due to its cosmopolitan history. Indeed, a close look at those who played a part in its emergence brings one to the conclusion that Odessa has always been a strikingly international place. Its first builders, the brothers Joseph and Felix de Ribas were of Spanish extraction. Franz de Volant, the first city planner, was a Dutchman. Duke Emmanuel de Richelieu, the first province and city Governor, was French, and so was his friend and successor, Count Alexandre de Langeron. General Coble, the city commandant, was English, Governor General Mikhail Vorontsov was a Russian prince, Grigoriy Marazli, a Greek, headed the municipal government. Italians were predominant among the architects: F.Boffo, A.Bernardazzi, G.Toricelli and F.Morandi, to name a few. As for the populace, it was a mix from the very start: Ukrainians and Greeks, Russians and Jews, Moldavians and Poles, Bulgarians and Germans, as well as Italians, Frenchmen, Turks and Tatars. Sincere tolerance has always been the spirit among all the ethnic groups inhabiting Odessa. By the way, to be an Odessavite means to be a person of special nation, the peculiarities of which are humor and optimistic approach to life.

In comparison with Moscow, which is more than 800 years old, and the mother of Russian cities- Kiev, which has celebrated its 1500th anniversary not long ago, or with many other Russian cities, Odessa is a young city. Its birthday is September 2, 1794.

According to some views, there are two kinds of big city development: some cities grow slowly and gradually like the circles in the tree trunk, for instance, Paris, Moscow; others make a violent and pre-planned rush in their development, like St. Petersburg (“Northern Palmira”) and Odessa (“Southern Palmira”). The design of the old part of Odessa is a wonderful masterpiece of classical architecture.

At once the young Odessa deserved the fame of a free, even foreign, port which was often referred to as “the golden port”. Many noblemen, officers and merchants came to spend their holidays here.

After the World War II, the city was rebuilt and greatly expanded. There emerged a network of parks, sanatoriums, new residential areas along the sea-coast.

The Odessa of today is Ukraine’s fifth biggest city with the population of approximately 1,1 million people and the territory of 20,000 hectares.