Odessa

Odesa Одеса Odessa
Potemkin Stairs
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Ukraine (blue) with Odessa highlighted (red dot) within Odessa Oblast (pink).
Coordinates:
Country	Ukraine
Oblast	Odessa Oblast
City Municipality	Odessa
Founded	September 2, 1794
Government
- Mayor	Eduard Yosypovych Hurvits
Area
- City	163 km² (62.9 sq mi)
Elevation	40 m (131 ft)
Population (2008)
- City	1,080,000
- Density	6,141/km² (15,905.1/sq mi)
- Metro	1,191,0001
- Demonym	Odessit / Odessitka
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	65000 — 65480
Area code(s)	+380 48
1 The population of the metropolitan area is as of 2001.
Website: http://www.odessa.ua/

Odessa or Odesa (Ukrainian: Одеса; Russian: Одесса; Greek: Οδησσός) is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast (province) located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 (as of the 2001 census).^[1]

From 1819–1858 Odessa was a free port. During the Soviet period it was the most important port of trade in the U.S.S.R. and a Soviet naval base. On January 1, 2000 the Quarantine Pier of Odessa trade sea port was declared a free port and free economic zone for a term of 25 years.

In the 19th century it was the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia, after Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Warsaw.^[2] Its historical architecture has a flavor more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles.

Odessa is a warm water port, but of limited military value. Turkey's control of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus has enabled NATO to control water traffic between Odessa and the Mediterranean Sea. The city of Odessa hosts two important ports: Odessa itself and Yuzhny (also an internationally important oil terminal), situated in the city's suburbs. Another important port, Illichivs'k (or Ilyichyovsk), is located in the same oblast, to the south-west of Odessa. Together they represent a major transportation junction integrated with railways. Odessa's oil- and chemical-processing facilities are connected to Russia's and EU's respective networks by strategic pipelines.

History

From the first settlements to the end of the 19th century

The site of Odessa was once occupied by an ancient Greek colony. Archeological artifacts confirm links between the Odessa area and the eastern Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages the Odessa region was ruled in succession by the Kievan Rus, the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. Yedisan Tatars traded there in the 14th century. In the course of Russo-Turkish wars these lands were acquired by Russia at the end of the 18th century.^[3] During the reign of Khan Haci I Giray, the Khanate was endangered by the Golden Horde and the Ottoman Turks and, in search of allies, the khan agreed to cede the area to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The site of present-day Odessa was then a town known as Khadjibey (also spelled as Khadjibei, khacdjibei, Hacıbey, Hocabey or Gadzhibei;(Turkish) Lithuanian: Chadžibėjus; Crimean Tatar: Hacıbey) and was part of the Dykra region. However, most of the area was uninhabited.

Odessa Сircuit Court building and Church of the monastery of St. Panteleimon (church consecrated in 1895; used as a planetarium from 1961–1991).

Khadjibey came under direct control of the Ottoman Turks Empire after 1529 and was part of a region known as Yedisan and was administered in the Ottoman Silistra (Özi) Province. In the mid-18th century, the Ottomans rebuilt a fortress at Khadjibey (Also was known Hocabey), which was named Yeni Dünya. Hocabey was a sanjak centre of Silistre Province.

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792, on 25 September 1789, a detachment of Russian forces under Ivan Gudovich took Khadjibey and Yeni Dünya for the Russian Empire. One part of the troops was under command of a Spaniard in Russian service, Major General José de Ribas (known in Russia as Osip Mikhailovich Deribas) and the main street in Odessa today, Deribasovskaya Street, is named after him. Russia formally gained possession of the area as a result of the Treaty of Jassy (Iaşi) in 1792 and it became a part of the so-called Novorossiya ("New Russia").

Ivan Aivazovsky, Nineteenth-Century painting depicting Odessa Harbor.

The city was officially founded in 1794 as a Russian naval fortress on the ruins of Khadjibey and renamed Odessa by January 1795, when its new name was first mentioned in official correspondence. Neither the origin of the new name nor reasons for renaming are known, though etymologies and anecdotes abound. According to one of the stories, when someone suggested Odessos as a name for the new Russian port, Catherine II said that all names in the South of the Empire were already 'masculine,' and didn't want yet another one, so she decided to change it to more 'feminine' Odessa. This anecdote is highly dubious, because there were at least two cities (Eupatoria and Theodosia) whose names sound 'feminine' for a Russian; besides, the Czarina was not a native Russian speaker, and finally, all cities are feminine in Greek (as well as in Latin). Another legend derives the name 'Odessa' from the word-play: in French (which was then the language spoken at the Russian court), 'plenty of water' is assez d'eau; if said backwards, it sounds similar to that of the Greek colony's name (and water-related pun makes perfect sense, because Odessa, though situated next to the huge body of water, has limited fresh water supply). Regardless, a link with the name of the ancient Greek colony persists, so there might be some truth in the oral tradition.

Ivan Martos's statue of Duc de Richelieu in Odessa

The new city quickly became a major success. Its early growth owed much to the work of the Duc de Richelieu, who served as the city's governor between 1803–1814. Having fled the French Revolution, he had served in Catherine's army against the Turks. He is credited with designing the city and organizing its amenities and infrastructure, and is considered one of the founding fathers of Odessa, together with another Frenchman, Count Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, who succeeded him in office. Richelieu is commemorated by a bronze statue, unveiled in 1828 to a design by Ivan Martos.

Richelieu Street and the Opera Theater in the 1890s.

In 1819 the city was made a free port, a status it retained until 1859. It became home to an extremely diverse population of Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Romanians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Armenians, Italians, Frenchmen, Germans and traders representing many other nationalities (hence numerous 'ethnic' names on the city's map, e.g., Frantsuszkiy (French) and Italianskiy (Italian) Boulevards, Grecheskaya (Greek), Evreyskaya (Jewish), Arnautskaya (Albanian) Streets). Its cosmopolitan nature was documented by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived in internal exile in Odessa between 1823–1824. In his letters he wrote that Odessa was a city where "you can smell Europe. French is spoken and there are European papers and magazines to read". Odessa's growth was interrupted by the Crimean War of 1853–1856, during which it was bombarded by British and French naval forces. It soon recovered and the growth in trade made Odessa Russia's largest grain-exporting port. In 1866 the city was linked by rail with Kiev and Kharkiv as well as Iaşi, Romania.

The city became the home of a large Jewish community during the 19th century, and by 1897 Jews were estimated to comprise some 37% of the population. They were, however, repeatedly subjected to severe persecution. Pogroms were carried out in 1821, 1859, 1871, 1881, and 1905. Many Odessan Jews fled abroad, particularly to Palestine after 1882, and the city became an important base of support for Zionism.

First half of the 20th century

The 142-metre-long Potemkin Stairs (constructed 1837–1841), made famous by Sergei Eisenstein in his movie The Battleship Potemkin (1925).

In 1905 Odessa was the site of a workers' uprising supported by the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin (also see Battleship Potemkin uprising) and Lenin's Iskra. Sergei Eisenstein's famous motion picture The Battleship Potemkin commemorated the uprising and included a scene where hundreds of Odessan citizens were murdered on the great stone staircase (now popularly known as the "Potemkin Steps"), in one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history. At the top of the steps, which lead down to the port, stands a statue of the Duc de Richelieu. The actual massacre took place in streets nearby, not on the steps themselves, but the movie caused many to visit Odessa to see the site of the "slaughter". The "Odessa Steps" continue to be a tourist attraction in Odessa. The film was made at Odessa's Cinema Factory, one of the oldest cinema studios in the former Soviet Union.

Bolshevik forces enter Odessa. February, 1920.

Following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 during World War I, Odessa was occupied by several groups, including the Ukrainian Tsentral'na Rada, the French Army, the Red Army and the White Army. Finally, in 1920, the Red Army took control of Odessa and united it with the Ukrainian SSR, which later became part of the USSR.

Soviet gun crew in action at Odessa in 1941

The people of Odessa suffered from a famine that occurred in 1921–1922 as a result of the Civil war. In 1941 the retreating Red Army units destroyed as much as they could of Odessa harbour facilities. The city was land mined in the same way as Kiev but luckily one inhabitant, who took part of the mining, reported it to the Romanians which, with the German assistance, defused the mines. During World War II Odessa was occupied by Romanian and German forces from 1941–1944. Romanians used the name 'Odessa' as the Ukrainian version of the city. The Romanian occupation may be described a "soft one" compared to the short period of German occupying in 1944. The Romanian commanding General made an "unofficial armistice" with the partisans who in their turn did not made many activities against the Romanians. The Romanian State Railways (CFR) connected, after the change of the Russian gauge 1,524mm to European 1,435mm gauge, Odessa with two daily express trains to Bucharest Nord. These trains run until March 19, 1944. In addition to the CFR trains, there was a daily train 841 / 941 introduced in 1942 from Odessa, for German soldiers, to Szolnok in Hungary and back. When the people of Odessa suffered from hunger, the Romanians transported grain from Bessarabia to Odessa in 1942 and 1943. It is told that the Romanians imported the best cognac and wines, in addition to two train loads of the best French food in 1942 to the restaurants of Odessa, from France. During the April 1944 battle Odessa suffered severe damage and many casualties.

Following the Siege of Odessa, and the Axis occupation, approximately 60,000 Odessans (mostly Jews) were either massacred or deported. Many parts of Odessa were damaged during its siege and recapture on 10 April 1944, when the city was finally liberated by the Red Army. It was one of the first four Soviet cities to be awarded the title of "Hero City" in 1945.

Second half of the 20th century

Passenger Terminal of the Odessa port

Tolstogo Street.

During the 1960s and 1970s the city grew tremendously. Nevertheless, the majority of Odessa's Jews emigrated to Israel, the United States and other Western countries between the 1970s and 1990s. Domestic migration of Odessan middle and upper classes to Moscow and Leningrad that offered even greater opportunities for career advancement, also occurred on a large scale. But the city grew rapidly by filling the void with new rural migrants elsewhere from Ukraine and industrial professionals invited from all over the Soviet Union.

Despite being part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the city preserved and somewhat reinforced its unique cosmopolitan mix of Russian/Ukrainian/Mediterranean culture and a predominantly Russophone environment with a uniquely accented dialect of Russian spoken in the city. The city's Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Armenian, Moldovan, Bulgarian, and Jewish communities have influenced different aspects of Odessa life.

In 1991, after the collapse of Communism, the city became part of newly independent Ukraine. Today Odessa is a city of more than 1 million people. The city's industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, chemicals, metalworking and food processing. Odessa is also a Ukrainian naval base and home to a fishing fleet. It is also known for its huge outdoor market, the Seventh-Kilometer Market, the biggest market of the kind in Europe.

Government and administrative divisions

The Italian baroque façade of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater.

The Odessa Main Railway Station.

While Odessa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast (province), the city is the capital of the Odessa City Municipality. However, Odessa is a city of oblast subordinance, thus being subject directly to the oblast authorities rather to the Odessa City Municipality housed in the city itself.

The territory of Odessa is divided into four administrative raions (districts):

1. Kyivskyi Raion (Ukrainian: Київський район)
2. Malynovskyi Raion (Ukrainian: Малиновський район)
3. Prymorskyi Raion (Ukrainian: Приморський район)
4. Suvorovskyi Raion (Ukrainian: Суворовський район)

In addition, every raion has its own administration, subordinate to the Odessa City Council, and with limited responsibilities.

Geography and features

Odessa is situated () on terraced hills overlooking a small harbor, approximately 31 km (19 mi.) north of the estuary of the Dniester river and some 443 km (275 mi) south of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. The city has a mild and dry climate with average temperatures in January of -2 °C (29 °F), and July of 22 °C (72 °F). It averages only 350 mm (14 in) of precipitation annually.

The primary language spoken is Russian, with Ukrainian being less common despite its being an official language in Ukraine. The city is a mix of many nationalities and ethnic groups, including Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Jews, Moldovans, Bulgarians, Armenians, Georgians, Germans, Koreans, and many others.

Attractions

Further information: Odessa attractions

Resorts and health care

Odessa is a popular tourist destination, with many therapeutic resorts in and around the city.

The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases & Tissue Therapy in Odessa is one of the world's leading ophthalmology clinics.

Odessa catacombs

Further information: Odessa Catacombs

Most of the city's 19th century houses were built of limestone mined nearby. Abandoned mines were later used and broadened by local smugglers. This created a gigantic complicated labyrinth of underground tunnels beneath Odessa, known as "catacombs". They are a now a great attraction for extreme tourists. Such tours, however, are not officially sanctioned and are dangerous because the layout of the catacombs has not been fully mapped and the tunnels themselves are unsafe. The tunnels are a primary reason why a subway system was never built in Odessa.

Transportation

The first car in Russia, a Mercedes-Benz belonging to V. Navrotsky, came to Odessa from France in 1891. He was a popular city publisher of the newspaper The Odessa Leaf. Odessa was the first city in Imperial Russia to have steam tramway lines since from 1881, only one year after horse tramway in 1880 operated by the "Tramways d´Odessa", an Belgian owned company. The first metre gauge steam tramway line run from Railway Station to Great Fontaine and the second one to Hadzhi Bey Liman. These were operated by the same Belgian company. Electric tramway started to operate on on 22.08.1907. Trams were imported from Germany. The city public transit in Odessa is currently represented by trams^[4] (streetcars), trolleybuses, buses and fixed-route taxis (marshrutkas). Odessa also has a cable car, cable-way, and recreational ferry service. Odessa International Airport is served by major airline carriers, including Aerosvit, Ukraine International, Austrian Airlines, El Al, and Turkish Airlines. These and other airlines provide flights to numerous locations in Europe and Asia. Passenger trains connect Odessa with Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, St.-Petersburg, the cities of Ukraine and many other cities of the former USSR. Intercity bus services are available from Odessa to many cities in Germany (Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), Greece (Thessaloniki and Athens), Bulgaria (Varna and Sofia) and several cities of Ukraine and Europe.

Passenger ships and ferries connect Odessa with Istanbul, Haifa, and Varna.

Famous people from Odessa

Further information: People born in Odessa at Category:People from Odessa

The Philharmonic Society

School of Stolyarsky Odessa, UKRAINE

Odessa Archaeological Museum was designed in the Neoclassical style just like many other landmarks of the city.

Political leaders

Ze'ev Jabotinsky was born in Odessa, and largely developed his version of Zionism there in early 1920s.

Poets and writers

Poet Anna Akhmatova was born in Bolshoy Fontan near Odessa. The city has produced many writers, including Isaac Babel, Ilf and Petrov, and Yuri Olesha. Vera Inber, a poet and writer, as well as the famous poet and journalist, Margarita Aliger were both born in Odessa.

Scientists

A list of world known scientists lived and worked in Odessa. Among them: Ilya Mechnikov (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1908), Igor Tamm (Nobel Prize in Physics 1958), Selman Waksman (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1952), Dmitri Mendeleev, Nikolay Pirogov, Ivan Sechenov, George Gamow, Nikolay Umov, Leonid Mandelstam, Aleksandr Lyapunov, Mark Krein, Alexander Smakula, Waldemar Haffkine, Valentin Glushko, etc.

Artists

The most popular Russian show-business people from Odessa are Yakov Smirnoff (comedian), Mikhail Zhvanetsky (legendary humorist writer, who began his career as port engineer) and Roman Kartsev (comedian). Zhvanetsky's and Kartsev's success in 1970s, together with Odessa's KVN team, much contributed to Odessa's established status of a "capital of Soviet humour", culminating in the annual Humorina festival, carried out on and around the April Fool's Day. Odessa was also the home of the late Armenian painter Sarkis Ordyan (1918-2003) and Greek philologist, author and promoter of Demotic Greek Ioannis Psycharis (1854-1929).

Musicians

Odessa produced one of the founders of the Soviet violin school, Piotr Stolyarsky. It has also produced a famous composer Oscar Borisovich Feltsman and a galaxy of stellar musicians, including the violinists Nathan Milstein, David Oistrakh and Igor Oistrakh,Boris Goldstein, Zakhar Bron and pianists Sviatoslav Richter, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Vladimir de Pachmann, Shura Cherkassky, Emil Gilels, Maria Grinberg, Simon Barere, Leo Podolsky, and Yakov Zak.

Athletes

The chess player Efim Geller was born in the city. Gymnast Tatiana Gutsu known as "The Painted Bird of Odessa" brought home Ukraine's first Gold Medal as an independent nation when she outscored the USA's Shannon Miller in the women's All-Around event at 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona Spain.

Other notable sportsmen: Nikolai Avilov - Olympic champion in decathlon, Oksana Baiul - Olympic champion in figure skating, Viktor Petrenko - Olympic champion in figure skating, Igor Belanov - European Footballer of the Year in 1986, Lenny Krayzelburg - Olympic champion swimmer. Artur Kyshenko - K1 Muay Thai Kickboxer

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

Odessa is twinned, has sister and partner relationships with many other cities throughout the World:

Sister cities

Partner cities

References

See also

• History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union
• Odessa Soviet Republic
• Siege of Odessa
• Odessa massacre
• Culture of Odessa
• Moldavanka, the historical neighborhood of Odessa

Further reading

External links

• "Official Odessa web page" (HTML). Retrieved on April 29, 2006. Russian, Ukrainian, and English versions
• "2odessa.com" (HTML). Retrieved on April 29, 2006. English guide on Odessa, Ukraine.
• "Odessa Calling!". An independent city guide on Odessa in English
• "Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911) entry for Odessa" (HTML). Retrieved on October 1, 2006.
• "Odessa Globe" (HTML). Retrieved on April 29, 2006. English-Russian e-zine and guide
• "Odessa tour overview" (HTML). Retrieved on July 3, 2006.
• "Odessa links at the Open Directory Project" (HTML). Retrieved on April 29, 2006.
• "Pogroms" (HTML). History of pogroms in Odessa
• "Ta Odessa" (HTML). Information (in Russian)
• "The World Odessit Club" (HTML). Russian and English versions
• "1982 Map of Odessa". berkeley.edu. Retrieved on August 7, 2006.
• "Odessa Attractions" (HTML). Retrieved on July 18, 2007.
• "Odessa 360" (HTML). Retrieved on 26 January 2008.
• "Why are they named Odessa? History of cities, towns and villages named Odessa" (HTML). Retrieved on 23 November 2008.

Geographic locale
Administrative divisions of Odessa Oblast, Ukraine Administrative center:  Odessa Raions Ananyivskyi · Artsyzkyi · Baltskyi · Berezivskyi · Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi · Biliayivskyi · Bolhradskyi · Frunzivskyi · Ivanivskyi · Izmailskyi · Kiliyskyi · Kodymskyi · Kominternivskyi · Kotovskyi · Krasnooknianskyi · Liubashivskyi · Mykolaivskyi · Ovidiopolskyi · Reniyskyi · Rozdilniaskyi · Saratskyi · Savranskyi · Shyriayivskyi · Tarutynskyi · Tatarbunarskyi · Velykomykhailivskyi Cities Ananiv · Artsyz · Balta · Berezivka · Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi · Biliaivka · Bolhrad · Illichivsk · Izmail · Kilia · Kodyma · Kotovsk · Odessa · Reni · Rozdilna · Tatarbunary · Teplodar · Vylkove · Yuzhne Urban-type settlements Frunzivka · Ivanivka · Kominternivske · Krasni Okny · Liubashivka · Mykolaivka · Ovidiopol · Sarata · Savran · Shyriaieve · Tarutyne · Velyka Mykhailivka · more... Villages more...  Administrative divisions of Ukraine Capital: Kiev Oblasts Cherkasy · Chernihiv · Chernivtsi · Dnipropetrovsk · Donetsk · Ivano-Frankivsk · Kharkiv · Kherson · Khmelnytskyi · Kiev · Kirovohrad · Luhansk · Lviv · Mykolaiv · Odessa · Poltava · Rivne · Sumy · Ternopil · Vinnytsia · Volyn · Zakarpattia · Zaporizhia · Zhytomyr Cities with special status City of Kiev · City of Sevastopol Autonomous Republic Autonomous Republic of Crimea Administrative centers Cherkasy · Chernihiv · Chernivtsi · Dnipropetrovsk · Donetsk · Ivano-Frankivsk · Kharkiv · Kherson · Khmelnytskyi · Kiev · Kirovohrad · Luhansk · Lutsk · Lviv · Mykolaiv · Odessa · Poltava · Rivne · Sevastopol · Simferopol · Sumy · Ternopil · Uzhhorod · Vinnytsia · Zaporizhia · Zhytomyr