Odessa: what you need to know about Odessa, Ukraine

About the city

Odessa is the third most populous city in Ukraine, and the area of the Odessa region is 33 314 km2, which by comparison is larger than the area of such countries as Belgium, Montenegro and Cyprus. And even the largest lake of Ukraine Yalpug - is also located here.

But, it is worth to visit Odessa not only for the lake. This city can surprise even the most sophisticated tourist.

Here you will find:

• Real catacombs, located directly under the city. Their length, presumably, reaches four kilometers. In 2013, a museum was opened on their basis, which will help you learn the city and its underground history from a different perspective.
• The Odessa Opera House is so beautiful that Forbes magazine included it in its list of the most unusual sights in Eastern Europe.
• The smallest square in the world is 5 m². It is named after Ostap Bender, the hero of the famous book "The 12 Chairs", and the only thing on the square is a monument to the chair from the same book.
• In 2012 at the initiative of students of the State Academy of Technical Regulation and Quality the monument to Steve Jobs was installed in the city.
• The beautiful Shah's Palace, where the fugitive Shah of Iran lived. The palace is decorated in oriental style and is an architectural monument, definitely worth your attention.
• The only monument to Darth Vader in the world, which unexpectedly appeared during the decommissioning and became another of Odesa's landmarks.
• The Potemkin Stairs are one of the city's visiting cards. When you stand at the top and look down, the staircase seems to be the same width throughout. In terms of the rules of perspective - this is impossible, but the architects purposely made the bottom of the stairs significantly wider than the top to create this illusion, as well as to give the stairs more pomp and grandeur.
• Flat houses - which create the illusion that the building has only one wall.
• Don't forget to visit the Odessa Archaeological Museum, which contains the zlatnik of Prince Vladimir, the first gold coin of Kievan Rus, minted in the late 10th early 11th century. There are only 11 of them left in the world. And only two in Ukraine.
• Odessa is the most popular resort city in Ukraine. It is located on the shores of the Black Sea, and it is here that the largest beach in the country - Luzanovka.

Odessa is unusual and once you have been here once it is impossible to forget it!

It was in Odessa that the first in Ukraine and the world's second bacteriological station was opened. The first funicular in Ukraine and the state film studio. And the first perfume fountain in the world was also opened here. Every hour, the fountain sprays the scents of 21 fragrances in turn.

This city has bred its own breed of dogs, called Odis. This name means "Odessa Home Perfect Dog". And the first and only installation on the moon is dedicated to the Odessa astronaut George Dobrovolsky.

Odessa is a city that is famous for its hospitality, humor and unique flavor. Not to visit Odessa means not to see and not to know the real Ukraine!