Welcome to Odessa!
Vokzal - The Main Railroad Station
Inside the Vokzal
Odessa Railroad Management Building
Privokzalna Ploshchad (Square) - just outside the train station
Tram #5 passes a McDonald's just outside the train station
This ornate building, opposite the train station, reverted to its original use as a monastery after being used as a courthouse and a movie theater in Soviet times
The first (or last) block of Pushkinskaya street
The hustle and bustle of Panteleymonovskaya (Chizhikova) Street between the train station and Pushkinskaya
Street-level view of Panteleymonovskaya street between Yekaterininskaya (Karla Marxa) and Rishilevskaya (Lenina) streets - it sure ain't what it used to be!
The other end of Panteleymonovskaya, past Preobrazhenskaya (Sov. Armyi) steet. The few surviving 19th century buildings are overshadowed by the new highrises
"Rodina" movie theater
The intersection of Yekaterininskaya (Karla Marxa) and Malaya Arnautskaya (Vorovskovo) streets
Rishilevskaya (Lenina) street. The Armory building can be seen in the background
"Chernoye More" (Black Sea) Hotel
View of the central part of the city from the top floor of the hotel
Starobazarnyi (Kirovski) Square, with new sculptures at the center
Kirovsky Square
Kirovsky Sadik (Square)
This used to be secondary school #68. Now it's something called "Lyceum of Jurisprudence"
This is now school #68. Newly renovated.
This new boutique hotel, called London, is around the corner from Kirovsky Square
Books have always been for sale on Aleksandrovsky Prospekt (Mira), but now CDs and DVDs predominate
The former KGB building at the corner of Yekaterininskaya (Karla Marxa) and Yevreyskaya (Bebelya) streets
This block of Zhukovskovo street is fairly typical of side streets in the city center
Street-level view of Yekaterininskaya street, just before Deribasovskaya
Deribasovskaya
Yekaterininskaya street, looking south toward Deribasovskaya
All street signs today are in Ukrainian
Deribasovskaya street is a pedestrian promenade
Deribasovskaya, looking toward Preobrazhenskaya
Deribasovskaya at night
Lanzheronovskaya (Lastochkina) street
Arab Cultural Center at the corner of Rishelevskaya (Lenina) and Bolshaya Arnautskaya (Chkalova) streets
Rishelevskaya street. Old timers will recognize this as the former location of Korolenko movie theater
Odessa's main synagogue is located (appropriately enough) on Yevreyskaya (Jewish) street, at Rishelevskaya
This ancient Moskvich is probably older than the combined age of both of these young women who hand out advertising flyers to motorists stopped at a red light - a common scene in city center
"Childrens World" department store now has name brands
There are no reminders of "Ukraina" movie theater and the book store that used to be in this building on Lenina street
RIshelevskaya (Lenina) street, looking toward the Threater
A French-style building at the corner of Rishelevskaya and Deribasovskaya streets
A Parisian-looking street scene
The Opera and Balet Theater - one of the grandest in the world - has been recently renovated
One sure sign of a city's transformation into a tourist center is a wax museum. This one, across the street from the Ukraine Central Bank building, occupies the site of a former restaurant
"Palais Royale" is a quiet little park to the side of The Theater
Side view of the Opera and Ballet Theater
Odessa City Hall and Dumskaya square
Archeological Museum
Pushkin monument in front of City Hall
The area was being renovated and decorated for the Ukraine independence day on Aug. 24
The cannon from the British frigate "Tiger", a trophy from the Crimean war
The brand-new sidewalk of Primorsky Boulevard. What happened to all the benches that used to be there?
Looking toward the seaport from the top of the famous Potemkin steps on a rare cloudy summer day
The entire Boulevard is being renovated...
...but the Duke is always the same
Passenger Seaport Terminal
A giant cruise ship tied up for a day, filling the city with Japanese tourists
Seafarers' church is a relatively recent addition to the Seaport
The back view of the Seaport building
View of Park Shevchenko with its new luxury highrises, from the Seaport
The ultra-modern Hotel Odessa towers over the Seaport
Potemkin Steps is the formal entranceway to the city
The famous Potemkin Steps
Looking back toward the Seaport
Whoever decided to replace the escalator with this funicular did no favor to the residents or guests of Odessa. On summer weekends, it can take up to an hour to get to the top of the Steps, while waiting in line in a crowded and stifling waiting area
The just-installed sidewalk of Primorsky Boulevard
The Colonnade
The former Vorontsov Palace - recently renovated - is now some kind of a youth center
Vorontsov Lane is the oldest in Odessa. Its semi-circular shape traces the location of the Turkish fortress that stood there before the Russian conquest
Another view of Vorontsov Lane
The mother-in-law bridge
This little garden is meant to be evocative of Old Odessa
Atlantes statues on Gogol street
Gogol street is one of the more architecturally interesting streets in Odessa
Unique architectural styles of Gogol and Sabaneyev Most streets
This is said to be the world's only monument to a bribe. It memorializes the shipment of 250000 oranges by Odessa's merchants to Paul I, the Russian monarch who succeeded Catherine the Great in 1801 and revoked Odessa's tax-free status. The merchants' plea worked - the status was restored and Odessa's prosperity was assured for the next 70 years
A dilapidated old building near the Boulevard. The statue is that of Marshal Malinovsky who liberated Odessa from the Nazis
This is where the historic center of the city ends and the industrial Peresyp begins
Odessa Art Museum will never be mistaken for the Louvre
Sofiyevskaya (Korolenko) street. This is one of the oldest areas of the city
The lower Preobrazhenskaya street has many beautiful Baroque 19th century buildings, some better maintained than others
Another fine building on Preobrazhenskaya street, near the University
Odessa University. This building houses the Mathematics and Mechanics department
GorSad - the City Park
Another view of GorSad
These must be the most literate dogs in town - they choose to hang out in front of the House of Books
Leonid Utesov statue
One of the famous "12 Chairs"
Yekaterininskaya Square
The buildings on Yekaterininskaya Square have been restored and repainted, but the sidewalks have been shrunk to accommodate the ever-increasing number of cars
A view of the City Founders monument from Sabaneyev Most street
City Founders monument. The Statue of Empress Catherine the Great has returned to this square after a nearly 80 year absence, having displaced the "Potemkintsev" monument. The statues below the Empress are of the other city founders - DeRibas, Richeliu, DeVolan and Vorontsov
Sunset over Sabaneyev Most
Kulikovoye Pole
Ukrainian troops drill for a military parade for the 17th Anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine. The giant statue of Lenin that used to stand in front of this building is gone.
Kulikovoye Pole has always been Odessa's parade ground. These units are getting the ready for the Independence Day parade on Aug. 24
Three different names for the same street, in two languages!
Theater of Musical Comedy
Frantsuzski (French) Blvd - once one of the most tranquil and beautiful of city streets - is now clogged with cars heading to and from the luxury highrises of Arkadia
Here, as in many places in city center, new highrises tower over 19th century buildings in various stages of decrepitude, as if to underscore how the New Odessa looks down on the Old one
Lanzheron beach on a hot summer day
The Unknown Soldier monument. Gone are the sentries with rifles that used to stand on both sides of it in the Soviet times
This monstrosity now dominates Park Shevchenko. The once sleepy streets around the park have been transformed into busy roads by the never-ending stream of luxury cars into and out of this place
This building on Marazliyevskaya street, opposite the entrance to Park Shevchenko, is fairly typical of new buildings going up all over the city
Chernomorets stadium is being reconstructed as part of Odessa's long shot bid to host some games of Euro 2012 football championship
The remains of the Turkish fortress that used to guard the Ottoman settlement Khadjibey before the Russian conquest of the area in 1790s
Odessa is Ukraine's busiest port, which accounts for much of its current prosperity
A formal entrance to Park Shevchenko from Nakhimov Lane
Commercial Port entrance; the customs building is to the right
The first block of Pushkinskaya street, looking to Dumskaya square
Pushkinskaya - arguably the most attractive of city center streets
These office buildings look like they were transplanted from some American suburb, but they's only a block away from Pushkinskaya street
A nearly complete high-end residential building at the corner of Polskaya and Zhukovskogo streets
Back to Pushkinskaya, and its ornate 19th century architecture
"Krasnaya" Hotel is closed for renovation
Odessa Philharmony
A statue of Pushkin, in front of the museum dedicated to him and in particular his exile to Odessa
Pushkinskaya, roughly mid-way between the Boulevard and the train station
Rush hour traffic on Pushkinskaya. Central Department Store is in the background
The church opposite the Central Department Store
The last block of Pushkinskaya street before the Vokzal (Train Station) Square
"Athena Gallery" is the biggest modern shopping mall in city center
Interior view
The Spaso-Preobrazhensky (Transfiguration) Cathedral was rebuilt in Cathedral Square in 2000. The original one was destroyed in 1936
Vorontsov monument in Cathedral Square
Mediterranean-style buildings in Hretska (Greek) Square
Some of the best examples of Odessa's 19th century Baroque architecture can be found at the intersection of Deribasovskaya, Preobrazhenskaya and Sadovaya streets
"The Passage" - Odessa's original mall
Traffic gridlock at the intersection of Deribasovskaya and Preobrazhenskaya streets
This building on Sadovaya street, which houses the city's first and best-known pharmacy, is in danger of falling apart UPDATE: This building burned down on Oct. 30 2009, likely a victim of a battle for control of the city's prime real estate
Late summer day's sun illuminates The Passage and the first block of Sadovaya street
Another view of The Passage, from the corner of Preobrazhenskaya and Sadovaya streets
Inside The Passage
Details of the sculpture adorning one of the entrances at the Passage
Preobrazhenskaya street
"Odessa" movie theater
Tiraspolskaya square
Tram #3 makes its way through the traffic of Preobrazhenskaya street
Assumption Cathedral on Preobrazhenskaya street
Modern building at the corner of Preobrazhenskaya and Malaya Arnautskaya streets
Sushi anyone? The sign points to the Japanese pavilion inside New Privoz
The Old Privoz is shuttered, awaiting demolition
The fruit section of Old Privoz. Its days are numbered.
New and Old Privoz
Jewish Hospital in Moldovanka
The shady lanes of Moldovanka, like this block of Prokhorovskaya (Khvorostina) street were once predominantly Jewish
This bank occupies the site of a former idustrial plant, few of which survived the transition to capitalism. Making loans has supplanted making goods as the main focus of economic activity
One of the few surviving industrial enterprises is this truss making factory on Chernomorskaya Doroga. The road itself can fairly be called Odessa's longest parking lot
Suburbs, Odessa-style. This is the far end of Cheremushki, the intersection of Malinovskogo and Rabina streets
This quiet corner of Odessa, on Raskidaylovskaya (Stanislavskogo) street a few blocks west of Staroportofrankovskaya, is one of the few to preserve its original character
The luxury highrises of Arkadia and the surrounding area are home to Odessa's upper middle class
Entrance to Arkadia beach on a hot summer evening
Real Estate mania is in full swing in Odessa, especially in the resort belt around Arkadia
Arkadia beach
Tourist-oriented kitsch in Arkadia
Itaka - reputedly Odessa's hottest nightclub
Another nightclub in Arkadia
California-style homes of the city's elite in Bolshoi Fontan
Good Bye Odessa! This and the previous shot were taken from the plane right after takeoff from Odessa airport
