Odessa Travel Guide

The Potemkin Stairs (named after the rebellious battleship Potyomkin) are a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea. The stairs leading from Prymorsky Boulevard down to the sea were constructed from 1837 through 1841 to the design of the architect F. Bofford. This imposing monument numbers 192 stairsarranged in ten flights and flanked by two-metre thick parapets. The difference in width between the highest (13.4 m) and the lowest (21.6 m) flights produces an optical illusion that enhances the grandeur of the structure.

Magnificent Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater is once echoed with concerts conducted by Peter Tchaikovsky and ballets featuring Anna Pavlova. The interior of this impressive structure, which ranks in grandeur with Milan's La Scala and Moscow's Bolshoi, is richly decorated in Louis XVI style. Exquisite inside decor in the style of Viennese baroque blended with elements of the Italian Renaissance and French rococo, sculptural groups taken from Greek mythology, the stucco moldings and guilt friezes combined with the red velvet of the seats and boxes — all this tends to create a special atmosphere.

The sculptural ensemble of Laokoon is located in front of the archeological museum. Laokoon is the Greek pagan priest. He didn't please the sea god Poseidon who sent snakes upon him and his sons... The famous painting "Laokoon" by El Greco is in the museum of Washington now, there's the sculpture of Laokoon in Vatican. Odessa sculpture is its copy.

Situated on the Primorskiy Boulevard the building which houses the City Hall nowadays is the place of the former old Stock Exchange in Odessa. Trading has always been the main source of Odessa budget income, so it is only natural that the Stock Exchange building occupied the foreground of the city and was further converted into the City Council and Mayor place.

The building occupies the site of the former Odessa new Stock Exchange. Philharmonic Hall, a historic monument in Odessa, was opened in 1899. Designed by famous Odessa architect of Italian origin Mario Bernardazzi, the hall is a fine example of turn of the century architectural character of Odessa and of the Venetian Gothic style.

In 1795, just one year after the founding of Odessa, the Nickolayev church was built on Sobornaya square. The cathedral became one of the biggest in Russia. It was almost 50 meters wide and over 100 meters long. It could accommodated over 10,000 people and was the pride of Odessa.

In 1932 it was closed down. The square was officially renamed Soviet Army square, but unlike the over 170 other street and park name changes, the newer name never stuck with Odessites. In 1936 Stalin order the Cathedral destroyed. In a cowardly manner the cathedral was dynamited in the night. The church has begun to be rebuilt since 1999.

The Synod allowed to build its courtyard by the 100th anniversary of Odessa, the foundation of the cathedral was laid on May 9, 1893, and as soon as on January 10, 1896 the courtyard was consecrated. The project’s author is the architect N. Nikonov. The church on the third floor symbolized the holy Aphon mountain – there had been nothing of the kind in all Russian land. "Gold icon stands" made by the master Akhapnin struck imagination with their grandeur. Mural painting in Byzantine style was entrusted to Odessa masters.