Comparing Odesa with other Ukrainian cities, it is safe to say that the city has managed to combine picturesque nature, tourist area and cultural life. Over the years, people from different parts of the world have flocked here, as evidenced by the modern street names: Jewish, Polish, Greek, Italian and French boulevards.
A little bit of history
Today the population of Odesa exceeds 1 million people. The city was founded in 1794 by order of Catherine II. Major General Joseph de Ribas, whose name the main Odesa street still bears.
But the construction was extremely slow. Everything changed when the Duke de Richelieu was appointed governor-general of the Novorossiysk region. In just 11 years he managed to turn Odesa into an important economic center and the largest seaport in the country. In the days of the Russian Empire, the city was the fourth largest after Moscow, St. Petersburg and Warsaw.
