Odessa Things to Do

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Visiting the City Garden (this is how the city park is called) you will see the monument to Leonid Utyosov at the main entrance.
Utyosov was a famous Soviet singer, an actor, the founder and the leader of the most famous jazz orchestra in Odessa.
He was famous for his extraordinary live character and love of music.
There is a telephone booth opposite the monument where you can listen to some of his most famous songs (over 40) to your choice.

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Visiting the famous Potyomkin Staircase that became one of the emblems of the city is also a must for the visitors of Odessa, as many people say.
The staircase has not always been called that way. In the search for the best suitable name people gave it different names.
Before it was called
Gigantic Staircase
and then
Boulevard Staircase.
The staircase consists of ten flights of stairs and 192 stairs all in all.
If you look at it from the territory of the port, you will notice that it gets narrow upwards as if inviting you to visit the city .
The staircase was built in 1841 and has long become one of the architectural gems and symbols of Odessa.

During your city tour have a look at 25 Greek Street and you will see what the Odessans call the longest balcony in Europe at that building.
The building was built in 1905 by a wealthy Odessa merchant Maurocordato who was a Greek.
Forty-four windows and doors face that balcony.
If the tenants’ walls did not divide it, you could have walked along it above the pavements of Greek Street and Yeraterininskaya (Catherine) Street for quite a long time.

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The Odessa port is called the Sea Gate
of the country.
It’s one of the six Ukrainian ports at the Black Sea.
There is St.Nickolas Cathedral at the territory of the port.
St.Nickolas is the patron saint of all sailors.
In April 2001 "Kempinski" hotel was dedicated on the territory of the port. Now it is called Odessa Hotel.
There is an exquisite bronze sculpture in front of the main entrance to the sea terminal.
The sculpture is called A Child is Being Born.
The Odessans say it cost a pretty penny.
This strange bronze sculpture at the entrance to the Odessa passenger port has a very symbolic meaning, not clear to all Odessans, though.

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You can't miss visiting the railway station that was built in 1952.
There is a sculpture over the main entrance representing soldiers and workers and an inscription Glory to the Hero-City.
The railway station has a spacious lobby with booking offices, a cafeteria and kiosks on the first floor and waiting rooms on the second floor.

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Browsing the streets in downtown Odessa don't miss walking along Pushkin Street.
If you take a look at downtown Odessa from above, you will be surprised to find out it represents almost an ideal chess-board.

Picture #2: Philharmonic Society in Pushkin Street;
Pictures 3,4 and 5: Don't miss De Ribas Street and the City Park.
You can relax at the bench next to Leonid Utiossov in De Ribas Street and have your photo taken. This monument is very popular with the residents and visitors of Odessa.
The plaque at the foot of the monument reads,
Leonid Utiossov
from the thankful Odessa
Leonid Utiossov (1895-1982) was a famous Soviet singer and actor. He was born in Odessa in the family of Weissbein, an impoverished Jewish family. He made his career using his talent for music.

Here is a listing of Odessa museums for you to be able to choose where to go first:
First of all fine arts museums:
Arts Museum
5a Sophia Street
Tel.: +38 048 223 82 72
There are exhibitions of originals of the pictures of Russian and Ukrainian artists of the 16th – 20th centuries such as Serov, Vrubel, Candinsky and others.
There is also Icons Hall where you can see 35 icons.
You can see the pictures of the Russian marinist Aivazovsky – 35 pictures.
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Museum of western and oriental art
9 Pushkin Street
Tel.: +38 048 224 67 46
Tel.: +38 048 222 48 15
There are pictures of artists from the 15th – 20th centuries,
originals of Franz Hals, Caravagio, Maniasco and others.
On the picture: Juan Carrenio de Miranda, a 16th-century Spanish artist, the portrait of Mary Luise of Orleans.
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Nickolay Roerich House
Tel.: 47 Big Arnaut Street
Tel.: +38 048 715 58 58
You can see reproductions of works of Nickolay Roerich and his son Svyatoslav Roerich.;
- graphics of B.Smirnov-Russetsky, Nickolay Roerich’s pupil;
- water colors of Alexander Fonvizin and his pupil V.Yasnopolskaya;
- exhibition of local artists – originals of their works;
-World of Art exhibition of Serebryakova, Benoir and Kustodiyev from Vereshchagin Museum in Myckolayiv, the neighboring city port on the Dnipro (220 km to the east of Odessa).

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I have also attended a couple of concerts at the Philharmonic Society that always attracts a lot of visitors.
The main entrance to the Philharmonic Society includes a marble staircase and marble columns and is made in the style of early Renaissance.
The building itself is an architectural monument of the 19th century.
It is considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Russian architecture.
It was built for the city stock exchange in 1899.
You can admire both the exterior and the interior of the building.
The hall that seats over 1,000 spectators is fifteen meters high!
The building is justly called the highest one-storey building of Odessa.
It is very impressive indeed!