Odessa, Ukraine has always shown more color, spunk, and irreverence than other cities in the former Soviet Union. There's an excitement, an anything-is-possible feeling in the streets. The city has a reputation for its irreverent humor that is flaunt each April 1st with Odessa's most famous holiday, "humor day".

Odessa is referred to as the "Pearl of the Black Sea" is the 3rd largest city in Ukraine, the largest city along the Black Sea, and the most important city of Ukraine for trade. Odessa's mild climate, warm waters and sunlit beaches attract hundreds of thousands of people year around. Its shady lanes, beautiful lightly pastel buildings and cozy squares impart to the city a certain air of intimacy.

Odessa is simply enchanting with its marvelous architecture. Odessa's history as a thriving enterprise has left the city with some splendid architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries and a multifaceted, irrepressible spirit. Some buildings display a carious mixture of different styles, such as distinct French architecture with a distinct Russian flavor, and some are built in the Art Nouveau Style which was in vogue at the turn of the century. Its stately 19th century classical architecture is set on orderly planned streets that are surrounded with green space, giving the city an air of elegance. Strikingly ornate buildings of the late 19th and early 20th century are reminiscent of Right Bank Paris.

Most buildings in Odessa were built with white stone consisting of calcareous materials imbedded with seashells, which appears to be saturated with hot sunshine. This gives many of the city's buildings a whitewashed appearance. The extracted limestone resulted in the formation of an entire labyrinth of underground galleries.

One of the few planned cities in Ukraine, Odessa's central core is laid out in a grid. The first city plan designed by the engineer F. Devollan in the late 18th century was executed by the generations of Odessa architects that followed. As early as the first half of the 19th century, the numerous landowners who had moved to Odessa attracted by the profitable grain trade, started constructing their private residences. As a rule, they would build palace compounds: two-storied mansions with forecourts, wrought iron grilles and porticos indicating the entrance. Even today, the formal halls of these palaces are strikingly opulent. The mansions of wealthy merchants and factory-owners built to the designs of the best Odessa architects were concealed in the verdure of Frantsuzsky Boulevard.

Alexander Kuprin, the prominent Russian author, wrote of Odessa in his "Autumnal Flowers":

There everything reminds of Europe:
The colors gay,
The air's like syrup;
Italian heard
Throughout the streets,
Where aproud SlavCan a Spaniard meet;
Moldovian, French,
Albanians, Greeks,
Forget not sons of Land Egypt
--"Eugene Onegin" Pushkin

Over 100 nationalities reside here, and non-Ukrainian inhabitants make up more than 45% of the regional population. The city is rife with opportunism; corruption is said to permeate official circles, and bribery is an art form.

• For simplicity, north in this book is defined as the port, or the huge Kempinski hotel. Actually North is to the left / west of the hotel. In the center the train station is to the south.
• Another simple way to remember compass directions is in the center/old part of the city, that to the north and west is water. North is the port and Kempinski hotel, West are the beaches and Shevchenko Park (Парк Шевченко).
• Also street numbers are always:
  • EVEN on the north and west sides of the street, and
  • ODD on the south and east sides of the street.
• Ukrainians do not use the compass for directions in daily life. Most Ukrainians could not tell a person where North or South is in relation to landmarks in their city.

Special Thanks

I would like the following people who made this guide possible:

• Katy Wagner For work on the restaurant guide and for significant contributions to the city guide.
• Nadeshda for the design and layout of the map.
• Alex Sayassov for logistics support
• Oleksander Kanayeva For extensive translating work and moral support.
• Sandra Tacina For consultation and significant contributions to the Survival Russian section.
• Tanya Richardson For consultation and significant contributions to the History section.
• Julia Zhitkova For translating and extensive work on the map.
• My parents, Lee and Margaret Bailey for their emotional and crucial financial support; and for always believing in me, when no one else did.

  The entire English club, at Pushkinskaya 34 (Пушкинская). Relating to this project the club patiently answered many perplexing questions about the history, culture, and mentality of the Ukrainian people. Coming from a wide array of social and economical backgrounds they club was always a 'good control' on all parts of Ukrainian society. More importantly, the club was a source of all my many dearest friends here in Odessa. Living here almost three years I have seen so many of these beutiful people change and grow, through different tribulations and also victories, and I have to say that I have grown with them. The memories of the members of the club will always hold a very special and dear part of my heart.

Dynamic Odessa
In the last ten years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Odessa has changed almost as dramatically as the first ten years of the Soviet Revolution. Many businesses move frequently, change telephone numbers, or go out of business, much more often than in more stable Western countries. In light of this, some of the information contained within this guide may quickly become inaccurate. We have tried to provide an accurate snapshot of Odessa at the time of print, but please keep in mind the rapid changes that are still taking place in this city.

We have tried to make this book as accurate as possible, but some errors are unfortunately inevitable. The publisher takes no responsibility for errors that may occur.

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Compiled by Travis Lee Bailey, while living in Odessa from April 2000 to August 2002