"The pearl of the Black Sea" a Odessa Travel Page by fipsi

The Russian Empress Katherine II the Great founded Odessa in 1794 which means it is quite a young city. It is named after the ancient Greek colony Odessos erroneously believed to had been once situated on the site of the outskirts of modern Odessa. The feminin ending comes from the fact, that Katherine II was a woman.

As nearly all houses date back to the 19th century, you find them all in unique "classicistical" style. The communists let them dilapidate but didn't destroy them. You see right at the moment dozens of houses beeing renovated, so that I have to come back in 5 to 10 years.

As a fan of music-theaters I wanted to visit the famous and incredibly beautiful Opera House, but they renovated it, too :-(

Nevertheless Odessa is worth a visit, but be prepaired not to find Western-orientated service. Waiters often give you the feeling that you disturb them by entering the restaurants, and in the museums you will miss English titles....

On the left you see a typical house in the city-center waiting for renovation.

In front of the house the monument of Marshal Malinowskij can be seen, who fought against Germany in World War II.

As already mentioned above, many buildings are beeing renovated now.