About Odessa, the port city in Ukraine

About 500 km south from Kiev is situated Odessa - a very interesting city mostly due to its traditions and people. The central part of Odessa is quite similar to all European cities. And It is still emerging from the shadows of communism and wild capitalism.

There is another Odessa town in Texas, United States, founded on 1881 by mooved inhabitants of Ukrainian Odessa.

Anyway, it is a quite pretty place with lots of beautiful architecture. It has a laid back atmosphere - rather than lots of sights and museums, the main thing to do here is generally wander about the city or embankment. Odessa is only 200 years old. Catherine the Great decided she wanted a port on the Black Sea for Russia Empire so sent her troops here to defeat the Turkish army and create a port city. But historians say that the first town on this place was founded by Hadgi Giraj, the Khan of Crimea in 1240 and originally named Khadjibey after him.

Architects and builders from Italy and France were invited to give the town a distinctly European flavor. The old part of Odessa is really beautiful. Odessa is being reborn now and in near future will become one of the most intresting tourist places in Europe.

Present day Odessa is the major seaport for Ukraine with a huge container port at the foot of the old city. The center of Odessa It is full of restaurants, bars, open-air nightclubs and of course, beautiful woman. Combination of characteristics that represents historic center of the port city finds no analogies in Ukraine and Europe.

Despite being part of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, the city preserved and somewhat reinforced its tremendous mingle of Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish culture and a mostly Russian environment with a uniquely charming dialect of Russian language in the city. The city's Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Armenian, Moldovan, Bulgarian, and Jewish communities are forming different sides of Odessa life. For years Odessa is famouse due to its huge Jewish population, being a distinguished trade and cultural center, this city attracted a lot of Jewish people wich created very intresting local sub-culture.

A lot of remarkable actors, humorists, artists even bank robbers came from Odessa. After revolution in 1917 majority of Odessa's jews emigrated,a lot of people found themself in United States, Brooklyn, neighborhood of Brighton Beach, sometimes known as "Little Odessa"

Since 1972 Odessa has been conducting the festival of humor, wich is called Humorina. It goes every year on the 1 of April. For this and many other reasons Odessa is known as the "capital of humor" among former Soviet Republics. A lot of people are coming to Odessa at this date to watch humor parade and take part in numerous street festivals and shows. Now the city has a reputation of being a mafia town as well but we believe this is just temporary Ukrainian problem as a young country with developing economy and politics.