About Odessa

Odessa, with a population of approximately 1.2 million, is anything but a typical Ukranian town.Throughout its more than 200 year history this major Port Town has witnessed a series of immigrants from other countries and has at times been a safe haven for refugees fleeing persecution in their homelands.Consequently its people represent a rich cocktail of Russian, French, German, Arabic, Jewish, Greek, Italian, Armenian, Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Moldovan, Georgian, Albanian etc, etc.The result is a very unique Odessa look, a distinctive dialect, a multinational culture, a rich and varied cuisine and a character not witnessed anywhere else in the country. Indeed the towns inhabitants are very proud of their identity and see themselves not simply as Ukranians but Odessites first.

The coldest months of the year in Odessa are December and January (-2 degrees celsius aprox) with July and August being the hottest (23 degrees celsius approx). Summers can be uncomfortably hot and humid, feeling almost tropical at times. The weather varies greatly from North to South. For instance there may be prolongued periods of snowfall in Kiev the Capital (approx 500 kilometers away), with none falling in Odessa. There is very little rainfall with about 13" experienced annually..

The town is associated with many celebrated writers,musicians and scientists.Amongst the more famous are Alexander Pushkin who was exiled here and has one of the main throughfares and two statues to comemerate him, Ivan Bunin who received the Nobel Prize for literature and George Gamow the world renowned physicist who left Odessa to pursue his career in the US.

Humour is synonomous with the town. Some of Russia`s most celebrated comedians many of them Jewish, Yakov Smirnov, Roman Kartsev and Mikhail Zhvanetsky amongst others, were born in Odessa and helped to establish the town as a hotbed of comic talent.On the 1st April each year many visitors come to celebrate Humorina.It is a colourful and carnival occasion with many of the revelers dressed in costumes and wearing masks, beers in hand, enjoying the open air performances of the Comedians, Satirists and Musicians.

During the Soviet Union era the Port of Odessa was home to the worlds largest shipping operation, The Black Sea Shipping Co.At this time the Port had about 300 passenger and cargo ships and handled approximately one third of of all cargo for the USSR.Today, although the volume of commerce has diminished significantly the Port of Odessa employs many of the local population and effectively drives the local economy.Much has changed at this modern port since the days when ships would anchor offshore and their passengers and cargo were ferried by boat to the mainland. The Port currently handles about 30 million tons of cargo anually including crude oil,condensed gas, vegetable oils,sugar,grain,metals etc, etc.The modern Passenger Terminal is a stopover for some of the larger Cruise Ships and over 4 million passengers pass through it anually.Among the ferry routes are Varna and Istanbul.

Odessa with its consistently hot summers,its extensive fine sandy beaches and its many pulsating all night open air night clubs in Arcadia,the focal point of entertainment, is a major tourist resort attracting large numbers of sunsekers, from not just from other parts of Ukraine and Russia, but increasingly from Western Europe and America.The town centre has many trendy pavement cafes offering Continental Style Cuisine and coupled with the balmy temperatures and casual dress, there is a distinctly Mediterranean feel about the place. Whereas the work ethic is stronger in Kiev, in Odessa the atmosphere and lifestyle is more laid back even hedonistic.