Travel Guide to Odessa, Ukraine

Several years ago the city celebrated its two hundredth birthday. It was founded in 1794 by order of Catherine II. Odessa has always been the main port city of the Black Sea coast. Tourists are attracted by the city’s good traditions and hospitality, beautiful architecture and spacious beaches.

There are really many places for walking in the city, and you can study its streets indefinitely. Here you will find beautiful old mansions and magnificent modern buildings, as well as numerous monuments and fountains. The old part of the city and its main symbol is the Deribasovskaya Street, along which is stretched a large square. Here you will see contemporary artists who show off their works; take a walk among the ancient sculptures and watch beautiful pictures of marine landscapes, portraits and still life pictures.

St. Panteleimon Monastery decorated with fine mosaics and five gleaming domes is one of the city's main attractions. You should definitely walk along the port area, which looks more like a modern city street rather than an old port. There are many modern buildings here, which feature a skillful mix of metal and glass. The Catacombs are one of the main historical monuments of Odessa. This is a real underground city, which complex labyrinth stretches for many kilometers underground. Attending the Catacombs can be done with a guide only, because the tunnels are very complicated and it’s really easy to get lost in them.

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre is considered one of the greatest cultural monuments. Once here were performing Tchaikovsky, Chaliapin and Sobinov. Attending this theater is a dream of theater connoisseur. The most unusual house of Odessa can be found in the Vorontsov Street. This is a building of a triangular shape, which seems to be absolutely flat from some angles. This is a truly unique architectural project, and so you will never find a building like this one anywhere in the world.