Odessa Hotels
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Information about Odessa
City, capital of Odessa region, in Ukraine, a port on Odessa Bay of the Black Sea. Territory 160 square km. Population 1,122,000 (1995).
The third largest Ukrainian city after Kiev and Kharkov, a major industrial, cultural, scientific, and resort center in the Northern Black Sea region. Russians, Ukrainians, and Jews predominate in Odessa's cosmopolitan population.
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Climate
Moderately continental and comparatively dry. There are more than 290 sunny days in the year. Winter is short and mild with an average temperature of around freezing point. Falling snow and temperatures below minus 10 Celsius are rare. Summer is long and hot with an average temperature of 25 Celsius. Temperatures above 35 Celsius are quite often.
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Economics
Odessa is the largest seaport of Ukraine as well as an important rail junction and highway hub. Odessa is a major industrial center. Grain, sugar, machinery, coal, petroleum products, cement, metals, jute, and timber are the chief items of trade at the port of Odessa, which is the leading Ukrainian Black Sea port. Odessa is also a naval base and the home port of a fishing and an Antarctic whaling fleet. The city's industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, machine building, metalworking, food processing, and the manufacture of chemicals, machine tools, clothing, and products made of wood, jute, and silk. The relatively mild climate of Odessa draws visitors to the city’s many resorts. Large health resorts are located nearby.
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Transportation
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Odessa has regular air connections with Vienna (Austrian Airlines and Air Ukraine International, daily), Tel Aviv (ElAl), Istanbul (Turkey Airlines), Athens, Aleppo, Larnaka, Moscow, Kiev, Kishineu, Yerevan, Tiflis as well as with some other cities of Europe and Asia.
Trains connect Odessa with Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, Saint–Petersburg, major cities of Ukraine and many other cities of the former Soviet Union. Buses go between Odessa and Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich), Greece (Thessalonica, Athens), Bulgaria (Varna, Sophia) as well as major cities in Ukraine. There is regular passenger ship transportation between Odessa and Istanbul, Haifa and Varna.
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Sightseeing
At the center of the boulevard "the Semicircle" is the site of the monument to Duc de Richelieu designed by Melnikov & Martos with bas reilefs depicting agriculture, trade & justice ornamenting the pedestal of the bronze statue of Richelieu overlooking the port & stairs.
The two buildings each forming quarter circles in the shape of their facades both have five open apertures with semi-columns decorating the main entrances and a carved ballustrade above the massive cornices establishing the perimeter of Potemkin Square.
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The Potemkin Stairway was originally constructed in 1837 with greenish-gray sandstone imported from Trieste, Italy and consisted of 200 steps. The design creates somewhat of an optical illusion making the steps seem bigger than their actual size as upper flights are 44.22 feet (13.4 meters) wide while the lower flights are 71.28 feet (21.6 meters) wide bordered on each side by 6.6 foot (2 meters) wide steps and seven landings connecting the present day's 192 steps. The stairs name was taken from the battleship Potemkin and were to be later memorialized in the famous film of that name by the Russian producer Sergei Eizenstein.
Towards the south end of the boulevard are two important monuments, one a bust of A.S. Pushkin who was exiled to the south of what was Russia in 1820 and arrived in Odessa from Kishinev, Moldova in 1823. His life in Odessa is marked by some of his great literary achievements "The Fountain of Bakchisari", " The Gypsies" and "Eugene Onegin". The other monument is the large cannon that was salvaged from the British frigate "Tiger" after it was set afire and sunk by Russian artillery in their altercation with Anglo-French fleet in 1854.
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More sites and history are to be discovered along Primorsky Boulevard when you explore Odessa along with the many other visitors and locals out strolling.
The nearby Opera Theatre is not to be missed and is located at 1 Chaikovskogo Lane. Directly in front of the theatre is the Square of Heroes with the names of famous Odessites
Other theatres are the architecturally stunning Philharmonic at 15 Bunina Street, The Russian Drama Theatre at 15 Grecheska Street, The Ukrainian Music & Drama Theatre at 15 Pastera Street, and the Circus at 25 Koblevskaya Street near the New Market (Novy Rynok).
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The local museums are as follows:
Archeological Museum at 4 Lanzheronovskaya (tel. 22 63 02),
Wax Museum at 4 Rishelevskaya,
Eastern & Western Art Museum at 9 Pushkinskaya (tel. 22 48 15),
The Maritime Museum at 6 Lanzheronovskaya (tel. 25 02 50),
Numismatic Museum at 33 Grecheskaya, Literature Museum at 2 Lanzheronovskaya (tel. 22 33 70),
Modern Art Museum at 2 Gogol (23 61 41), Pushkin Museum at 13 Pushkinskaya (tel. 24 92 55),
The Picture Gallery at 5A Sofievskaya (tel. 23 82 72),
Odessa History Museum at 4 Gavannaya (tel. 22 84 90),
The unique Collection of A.B. Bleshunova (world adventurer) at 19 Polskaya.
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Deribasovskaya Street is the walking street that is the heart of Odessa with it's many cafes, shops, and restaurants. The Passage Hotel building is particularly notable for it's fabulous design and sculptures inside the atrium passage itself located at the north end of the street.
Whether sending some postcards or planning a rail trip both the Central Post Office and the main train station are both excellent examples of 20th century architecture in Ukraine.
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Arkadia is the most popular beach and has the most happening there including night clubs, boat rides, live music, restaurants and other entertainment on offer. Other good beaches are Delfin, Lanzheron, Chaika and Zolotoi Bereg which is at 16th station Bolshoi Fontan.
In conclusion we want to mention several of the beautiful parks & squares in Odessa. Shevchenko Park stretches along the sea just outside the center and covers 90 hectares with a wide variety of tree species, the monument to the Unknown Sailor and a stadium capable of seating 50,000.
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The City Garden along Deribasovskaya with it's monument to the musician Utesov and it's many handicraft vendors. The Soborna Square across from the Passage Hotel with it's monument to M.S. Vorontsov and it's many serious chess players.
There is much to discover in Odessa and we welcome suggestions as to what we omitted. |
