Odessa, Pearl of the Black Sea

Even before I arrived in the Ukraine, the city of Odessa intrigued me. I attribute my affinity to this city to having read about my Great-Uncle Peter who was stationed there during the 1917 Revolutionary War. Here is a picture of him driving with military personnel. As my Grandfather writes,

"Just before Christmas 1917, my brother Peter returned home from Odessa and reported that he had escaped heavy fighting. Loyal Imperial troops were resisting the Reds in many street battles and his ambulance unit had been called to gather up the wounded. It was a dangerous job because often, when he drove along, the bullets whizzed by too close for comfort. At one point, driving through a street crossing with another medical orderly, a salvo of machine gun bullets hit his car and his colleague was killed." (Fehderau, Mennonite Estate Family, p. 188)

My visit to Odessa, of course, did not reflect the war conditions Peter endured but it was meaningful for me to walk the streets of this city envisioning some of what he might have seen 100 years ago.

In order to get a feel for the city, I booked a hotel in the center of the oldest part of Odessa. I didn't realize when booking, that my hotel, the Palais Royale Hotel, was literally on the same grounds as the famous Opera Ballet Theatre, originally built in 1810. It was soon evident to me that Odessa resembled other European cities with its French and Italian architectural influence. I suppose I was expecting more Russian influence in its architecture but was soon proven wrong.

I have to chuckle every time I think of my attempt to get tickets for an excursion to see the inside of the Opera House. Even though I don't know any of the Russian language, I attempted to get a ticket at the front door. Well, inside the ticket booth sat an older Russian lady who ended up scolding me in Russian because I was in the wrong line (I guess?). Confused and a little put out, I finally found a younger Ukrainian girl employee who spoke broken English and when I asked her when the tour began and where I should get the ticket, she pointed to the ticket booth where I had already been. When I smiled and told the young girl, "I don't think that lady at the ticket booth likes me very much", the girl laughed and nodded. Sounds like the old lady already had a reputation =)

Needless to say, the interior is as spectacular as one could imagine with separate entrances for royalty and amazing acoustics enabling anyone in the audience to hear a whisper on stage.

Some of the more interesting historical facts I discovered about this Opera Hall in the 19th century included this building being the first in Odessa to be lit by electric light and workers bringing wagon-loads of ice and straw to the basement beneath the hall to cool patrons with cool air that would rise through vents beneath the seats. Next time I visit Odessa, I hope to have tickets already purchased off the internet so I don't have to run the risk of dealing with the old Russian ticket lady!

Odessa was founded in 1794 by a decree from the Russian empress Catherine the Great after the Russian-Cossack forces defeated the Ottoman Turkish Empire for this territory. This was the same ruler who initially invited the Mennonites from Prussia to occupy land in the Ukraine in part to protect it from the Turks and the same Cossacks who later formed the majority of the White Army fighting against the Bolsheviks in the early 20th century.

For those not aware: Mennonites found their way to Ukraine by the invitation of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia in the late 18th century, eager to tame the new frontier lands of her country with agricultural development. Knowing the Mennonites were in search of a new home away from the persecutions happening in central Europe where they were living at the time, Catherine invited them to colonize Russia in 1762 with a promise of religious freedom and non-involvement (bearing arms) in military affairs. Mennonites eager to accept the invitation arrived in Russia in the late 1700s with virtually nothing except years of agricultural experience.

I was unfamiliar with the Cossack influence so I did a little digging. There is a long history of the Cossacks and their loyalties over the centuries but, in more modern terms, they are a people from various region-states in southern Russia who eventually became an integral part of the Russian army in the 19th century when Russia annexed their territory.

Unfortunately, the Cossack reserves in the early 20th century were deemed "extremely slack and indecisive" by the Russian Tsarists when it came time to fighting the Bolsheviks, for the Cossacks were found on both sides of the 1919 conflict (joining both the Red Army and White Army). As a result, the Cossacks were punished severely for their lack of loyalty when the Soviets took control later in the 20th century, to the point of losing their nation status. Currently there is a movement from those who identify themselves as Cossacks in Russia to repatriate and highlight their unique identity as citizens.

I don't know how many modern-day Cossacks I encountered while in the Ukraine, but I did enjoy being at the heart of modern-day Odessa so I can walk the streets and experience the pulse of the city. For instance, I came across numerous city highlights including the City Garden pavilion and numerous restaurants, all ready to entertain many of its citizens on cool summer evenings.

I was immediately drawn to the active street life and detailed facades of the Archeological Museum along with many other buildings that lined the streets.

Aunt Rita providing the perfect resting place for some local birds

There were even passage ways off main streets that led pedestrians to inner courtyards with shops and cafes. Apparently the second floor in this inner courtyard housed a Russian hotel that had not (obviously) been used or renovated for a long time!

The Dnieper Princess, our ship for the Heritage Tour, was docked at a port at the base of the Potemkin Stairs. I learned that this stairway, a welcoming entry into the city from the sea, was so precisely constructed in 1841 that it created an optical illusion -- a person looking down the stairway sees only the landings (no steps) and a person at the bottom of the stairway looking up sees only steps (no landings).

At the top of the stairs is the Monument to the Duc de Richelieu in the Square de Richelieu. This man was from 19th century French royalty who escaped the French Revolution. In his exile, he became a ranking officer in the Russian Imperial Army decorated by Catherine the Great and was later appointed as governor of Odessa.

I sure appreciated the opportunity to explore Odessa over the few days I was there, enabling a more complete image of where my Great-Uncle Peter camped out during the war years!