Deribasovskaya Street

Deribasovskaya (Russian: Дериба́совская) or Derybasivska (Ukrainian: Дерибасiвська) Street is a pedestrian walkway in the heart of Odessa, Ukraine. The street is named after Josep de Ribas, who helped build the city, who was its first mayor and who lived on the street.

Next to the street is Odessa's first park, which was built shortly after the foundation of the city in 1803 by the De Ribas brothers, Joseph and Felix (Josep and Fèlix). This park has a fountain, bandstand, and several monuments, including a sculpture of a lion and lioness with her cubs, a chair commemorating the famous book "The Twelve Chairs", two monuments to Leonid Utyosov (a sculpture and also a phone which plays his music), and a monument to Sergey Utochkin, a famous pilot.

Derybasovska Street was previously named Gimnazska Street after the Gymnasium which opened April 16, 1804. It was renamed for de Ribas on July 6, 1811, being called Derybasovska or de Ribasovska or even Ribasovska. During the first years of Bolshevik rule (1920 - 1938) it was named after the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle. From 1938 to 1941, it was called Chkalov Street. Finally, on November 19, 1941, it was renamed Derybasovska.

Derybasovska Street runs from near Polska Street up to the Preobrazhenska and Sadova, crossing Pushkinska, Rishelyevska, Katerynynska, Havanna, and Vice-Admiral Zhukov Lane.

Interesting facts

• Derybasovska street was closed to auto traffic and turned into a pedestrian-only zone sometime in the spring of 1984. Prior to that, it was used not only by autos, but also by the city trolleybuses of route 1 and 2, which were moved to the neighboring streets after replanning.

• Every year on first of April the Humorina procession goes the whole length of Derybasovska Street, which is packed with tens of thousands of onlookers and participants dressed in funny costumes.

See also

• Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach, a 1992 film