Attractions of Odesa

Odesa Museum of Western and Oriental Art is one of the best museums in the country in this field. Occupies the former palace of the landowner A. Abaza, built in 1856-58 by architect L. Otto. The house is made in an eclectic style: baroque features coexist with elements of Empire and Rococo styles. The "swinging" grand staircase in the lobby, carved from Carrara marble, erected without load-bearing beams-kosour together with the platforms form a spectacular hanging structure. The interiors of the Abaza Palace are rich in stucco decor, carvings, bronze fittings. The Museum of Western and Oriental Art was founded in Odesa in 1923 on the basis of private collections collected by the local committee for the protection of monuments of art and antiquity. The exhibition presents paintings by Dutch masters, porcelain of the best European factories of the XVIII-XX centuries, sculptures and ceramics of Iran, Tibet, China, India and Japan. Pearls of the collection: "St. Luke" and "St. Matthew" by the great Dutchman F. Hals, "Madonna on the Throne" by the Florentine painter of the 16th century. F. Granacci, "Endangered Cupid" by E. Falcone, as well as unique woodcuts by the famous Japanese master Katsushiki Hokusai from the series "Book of Birds".

The Odesa house-museum named after Mykola Roerich was opened in 2000. Works by Mykola Roerich and Sviatoslav Roerich (reproductions) are presented in five halls; student of Mykola Roerich - Boris Smirnov-Rusetsky; A. Fonvizin; V. Yasnopilska; paintings by I. Rudzite, V. Lavrinov and Odessa artists. In the center of the Teachers' Hall is a relief map with the route of the Central Asian Roerich Expedition, which lasted 5 years (1923-28). The Roerich family room exhibits portraits of all members of Svyatoslav Roerich's family, as well as paintings dedicated to two great religions and their devotees: Orthodox Christianity and the Buddhist East. The Roerich family room presents the literary heritage of all family members and art albums of their works.

The Museum-Reserve "Catacombs of Odesa" combines ancient quarries for the extraction of building stone, military bunkers and bomb shelters, as well as real natural caves. The total length of the underground passages of the museum is about 10 km. The dungeons of the museum-reserve are recognized as an object of cultural heritage of the city. The quarries are located at a depth of 15-25 m below the city quarters within the streets of Balkivska, Dalnytska, Babel, Mykhailivska, in the former suburb of the city, which has the historical name "Moldovanka". The reserve covers more than 30 quarries, united at different times into a single underground labyrinth. The oldest workings are located in the southern part of the K-24 district ("Razumovsky Massif"). Ancient masonry, miners' wells, flooded labyrinths combined with messages on the walls of past years create an atmosphere of unknown and mysterious. The museum also has the opportunity to see one of the natural karst caves "Odesa-1".

One of the most visited museums in Odesa, located in the palace of the XIX century (architect L. Otton), which belonged to Prince D. Gagarin. In the second half of the century Gagarin transferred the palace to the city, in 1899-1903 there were meetings of the Literary and Artistic Society. Chic interiors have been preserved. The museum was founded in 1977. Each of the 20 halls reflects the artistic image of the decade to which it is dedicated. In the museum yard there is a garden of sculptures with flower beds, a fountain, medieval statues and modern humorous bronze miniature monuments in honor of the heroes of Odesa folklore: Eternal Jew Rabinovich, Future Genius, Mikhail Zhvanetsky, Denim Duke, Bone-sailor and more.

The Odesa Museum of History and Local Lore is located in the former palace of the industrialist Alexander Novikov, built in 1876 by architect Felix Gonsiorovsky. Forms of the late Italian Renaissance are used in architecture. After the revolution, the Novikov House housed a club, a library, party courses, and so on. The first museum exposition on the defense of Odesa was located here in 1948. And in 1956 the Odesa State Museum of History and Local Lore opened. Now the museum's collection has about 120 thousand exhibits. The exposition is based on documents, printed publications, works of applied and fine arts, numismatic collections, weapons of the XVII-XIX centuries from the collections of the Museum of the Odesa Society of History and Antiquities, the Book Museum, the Museum of Old Odesa and others. The interior of the ceremonial office of the governor-general of the beginning of the XIX century is recreated. Of particular interest is the courtyard of the museum with a miniature park and a graceful fountain "Grotto". Here are fragments of the monument to the founders of Odesa, erected in 1900 on Katerynynska Street and destroyed under Soviet rule.

The first specialized numismatic museum in Ukraine appeared in Odesa on the occasion of the 205th anniversary of the city. The founder is the oldest public organization in Odesa - Odesa City Society of Collectors. The museum collection includes more than 2.5 thousand coins and other exhibits. All periods in the history of the origin of civilization and statehood on Ukrainian soil, as well as the history of coinage and money circulation of Ukraine from ancient times to the period of independent development of the state are presented. Also on display are antique pottery and ancient Rus small sculptures. In particular, metal pendant badges with signs of princely power of the Rurik family.

The artistic treasures of Odesa are preserved and popularized by the Odesa National Art Museum (OFAM). He has an outstanding collection of all kinds of fine arts: painting, graphics, sculpture, arts and crafts, icon painting by Ukrainian and Russian masters from the XVI century to the present, numbering more than 10 thousand original works.

The museum is located in the ancient Potocki-Naryshkin Palace, which was built in 1823-1826 by Countess Olga Potocka (married to Naryshkin), daughter of Stanislav and Sophia Potocki. The construction was supervised by the Italian architect Francesco Boffo. This is a typical noble estate in the style of classicism with a two-story central building and side wings, which are connected by round galleries. The decoration of the ceiling, marble and parquet floors with inlay has been preserved. In the basement of the building there is an artificial cave with a grotto, which is connected by underground passages with the catacombs of Odessa (visit only accompanied by a guide).

In 1888 the palace was bought by Odesa Mayor Hryhoriy Marazli, and in 1899 on the initiative of the Odesa Society of Fine Arts it opened the City Museum of Fine Arts, which still functions as the Odesa National Art Museum. The exhibition presents works by Vasyl Tropinin, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Aivazovsky, Alexei Savrasov, Ivan Shishkin, Ilya Repin, Mykola Pymonenko, Oleksandr Murashko, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Mykhailo Vrubel, Mykola Roerich, Oleksandr Benois, Zinaida Serebriakova. Vasyl Kandinsky's "Sunlit Street" is considered a world-class masterpiece.

Odesa Archaeological Museum is one of the first museums in Ukraine. Founded by I. Blaramberg, who donated part of his collection of antiquities. The development was facilitated by the Odesa Society of History and Antiquities, founded in 1839, which had the right to conduct excavations in southern Russia. The collection includes more than 150,000 items: monuments of history and culture of the Northern Black Sea Coast, Ancient Greece and Rome. The best collections of Egyptian antiquities in Ukraine (sarcophagi, mummies of people and animals, jewelry, etc.). The "Golden Pantry" exhibits real things made of precious metals, the oldest of which date back to the beginning of the second millennium BC. A copy of the ancient Greek sculpture "Laokoon" is installed in front of the entrance.

The Olexander Pushkin Literary Memorial Museum was opened in the building of the former Hotel du Nord, where the poet lived for a month during a visit to Odesa in 1823. In Odessa he created the poem "Gypsies", completed the poem "Bakhchisaray Fountain", wrote thirty lyric poems and two and a half chapters of the novel "Eugene Onegin". The exhibition presents engravings of Pushkin's Odesa, portraits of the poet's contemporaries, his drawings, rare lifetime publications.