Odesa was founded in 1794 on the site of an Ottoman fortress and grew in a century into the fourth city of the Russian Empire, a free port that drew Greeks, Italians, Jews, Armenians, Poles, French and Ukrainians. That mixture produced a city with its own accent, humour and literature, and its historic centre was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2023, in danger.
The Potemkin Stairs
The 192-step staircase from Prymorskyi Boulevard to the port was completed in 1841 and built with an optical trick: the steps widen from 12.5 m at the top to 21.7 m at the bottom, so from above only the landings are visible and from below only the steps. Eisenstein filmed the pram sequence of Battleship Potemkin here in 1925, an event that never happened but is now inseparable from the place.
The opera house
Built in 1887 by the Viennese firm of Fellner and Helmer in neo-baroque, with a rococo auditorium and acoustics that are genuinely exceptional. It is widely considered among the most beautiful theatres in Europe and tickets remain cheap.
The catacombs
Beneath the city runs a network of some 2500 km of tunnels, quarried for the limestone the city is built from, far larger than the catacombs of Paris or Rome. They sheltered partisans in the Second World War. Only a small section at Nerubaiske is safe and open; entering elsewhere is genuinely dangerous and people have died lost in them.
Privoz and Deribasivska
Privoz is the market, sprawling and loud, and the best place to understand the city. Deribasivska, named after the Spanish-Irish officer who laid the city out, is the pedestrian street. The Vorontsov Palace, the Passage arcade and the Mother-in-law Bridge fill the rest of a day.
Now
Odesa has been repeatedly struck since 2022, including damage to the Transfiguration Cathedral in 2023 and to buildings in the protected centre. The port operates under a grain corridor arrangement. Beaches are mined in places and closed. Anyone considering a visit must check current conditions and follow local instructions without exception.
The humour
Odesa produced a distinct comic literature, from Isaac Babel Odessa Stories about the Jewish gangsters of Moldavanka to a stand-up tradition that survived the Soviet period. The city ran a humour festival every April Fools Day, Humorina, that filled the streets for decades. It is part of how the place understands itself.