Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You'll find various touristy knick-knacks for sale here and ex-Soviet tourists standing
in two long lines to be photographed with bronze sculptures, one of which is simply a
chair - a reference to the Soviet satirical novel
The Twelve Chairs
. The other one is that
of 1930s jazz singer Leonid Utyosov.
Across the street, the swanky
Passazh
covered shopping arcade is the best-preserved
example of the neo-renaissance architectural style that permeated Odesa in the late 19th
century. Its interior walls are festooned with gods, goblins, lions and nymphs. Shabbier
but equally ornate representations of this style are huddled around pl Soborna at vul
Derybasivska's western terminus, including the Passazh Hotel.
Odesa Opera &
Ballet Theatre
THEATRE
(
www.opera.odessa.ua
; prov Chaykovskoho 1)
The jewel in Odesa's architectural crown was
designed in the 1880s by the architects who also designed the famous Vienna State
Opera, namely Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer. After being closed for several
years amid botched reconstruction efforts, the theatre reopened to great fanfare in 2007.
You can take a Russian-language tour of the theatre, starting one hour before Friday and
Saturday performances (100uah) or, better yet, take in a performance.
Panteleymonivskaya
Church
ORTHODOX CHURCH
(vul Panteleymonivska 66)
Near the train station you can't help but spy the five silver onion
domes of this Russian Orthodox church, built by Greek monks with stone from Con-
stantinople in the late 19th century. According to legend, every time the Soviets painted
over the church's elaborate frescoes, they would miraculously reappear. While the Sovi-
ets eventually succeeded in covering them up, many of the frescoes are once again vis-
ible thanks to vigorous restoration efforts.
Museum of Western &
Eastern Art
GALLERY
(
www.oweamuseum.odessa.ua
; vul Pushkinska 9; adult/child & student 25/15uah;
10.30am-6pm Thu-Tue)
Housed in a beautifully renovated (at least on the outside),
mid-19th-century palace, the museum's star turn used to be one of 12 known versions
(most likely not the original) of Caravaggio's brilliant painting
The Taking of Christ
.
However, in July 2008 the canvas was cut from its frame in Ukraine's biggest art heist
