Ukraine – South (Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson) June 13-15m 2019
Having finished seeing everything in Trans Dniester and Moldova, Ukraine was my next destination. From the monastery, my friend, Google Maps directed me south on a 92km tortuous road crossing into Ukraine at Lower Dniester National Park. Fortunately I ran into a military roadblock who said (in sign language) that that was not possible. So I got to use my return fair on the ferry anyway.
Ukrainian customs was painful and disorganized. But there was actually someone there who spoke English. I knew I had to buy insurance – €26 for 15 days. Normally customs holds your passport until you have the insurance, but here I bought it down the road after clearing customs.
OBSERVATIONS
1. After only one day, I am fed up with Ukraine. Almost everything is in Cyrillic, which is impossible to comprehend. And English skills are surprisingly poor. I doubt you could find anyone to have a reasonable conversation with. A few young people speak passable English but forget it if they are over 25. As a result, this is not a very tourist friendly place.
2. Ukrainian roads are an adventure. One goes from 4-lane smooth highways to 100m where the road is completely disintegrated. Heavy patching and relatively rough is the norm. But potholes appear anywhere so one must drive defensively. Sometimes they are so bad, traffic moves at 20kms/hour weaving in and out trying to avoid them. However one day I drove 200kms of good road from
Lower Dniester National Park. The park is located in Dniester delta on the territory of wetlands of international importance. During water excursions tourists can see pelicans, swans, big and small cormorants, storks, wading ducks, as well as thickets of rare plant and one of Europe’s largest plantations of nuthar lutea, which are named by people ‘yellow water lilies’. During blossom of white water lilies tourists are impressed by Bile Lake (White Lake). It’s water surface looks like as if a continuous carpet of white flowers covered it.
My first visited place in Ukraine, all I could see was a huge area of wetlands evidenced by reeds.
Zmerny Island (Zmiyinyy island). 40kms from the mouth of the Danube in the middle of the Black Sea, this 12ha island was first settled by the Greeks in the 7th century BC where they built a temple to Achilles (the patron god of Black Sea sailors). In the 1st century AD, it housed the Roman navy. It is in the NM “XL” series.
ODESA (pop 1 million)
The Historic Center of the Port City of Odesa is a tentative WHS (06/01/2009).
Odessa (also known as Odesa) is the third most populous city of Ukraine and a major tourism center, seaport and transport hub located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. It is also the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast and a multiethnic cultural center. Odessa is sometimes called the “pearl of the Black Sea”, the “South Capital” (under the Russian Empire and Soviet Union), and “Southern Palmyra”. Before the Tsarist establishment of Odessa, an ancient Greek settlement existed at its location as elsewhere along the northwestern Black Sea coast. A more recent Tatar settlement was also founded at the location by Hacı I Giray, the Khan of Crimea in 1440 that was named after him as “Hacıbey”. After a period of Lithuanian Grand Duchy control, Hacibey and surroundings became part of the domain of the Ottomans in 1529 and remained there until the empire’s defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1792.
In 1794, the city of Odessa was founded by a decree of the Russian empress Catherine the Great. From 1819 to 1858, Odessa was a free port. During the Soviet period, it was the most important port of trade in the Soviet Union and a Soviet naval base. On 1 January 2000, the Quarantine Pier at Odessa Commercial Sea Port was declared a free port and free economic zone for a period of 25 years.
During the 19th century, Odessa was the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia, after Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Warsaw. Its historical architecture has a style more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in a mixture of different styles, including Art Nouveau, Renaissance and Classicist.
Odessa is a warm-water port. The city of Odessa hosts both the Port of Odessa and Port Yuzhne, a significant oil terminal situated in the city’s suburbs. Another notable port, Chornomorsk, is located in the same oblast, to the south-west of Odessa. Together they represent a major transport hub integrating with railways. Odessa’s oil and chemical processing facilities are connected to Russian and European networks by strategic pipelines.
1. Traffic. Another city with no motorcycles or bicycles, the traffic is endless in the morning and evening rush hours especially at roundabouts and lights. Parking is amazingly good but often on sidewalks. The drivers are a welcome relief after the maniacs in Romania.
2. Odessa Card. Offers 13 museums free (the Nemo Dolphinarium worth 300 UAH pays for half of the cost) and this is a good deal as few offer senior discounts. Also free are the catacombs and electric bus sightseeing tour. Reductions on several other museums and excursions, entertainment, restaurants, hotels, bike rentals and SIM cards. 599 UAH
The card would not have been a good deal for me even with no senior reductions. I could not have arranged the catacomb tour.
3. Museums are relatively cheap but few give age reductions.
Seventh-Kilometer Market. I don’t know if this means 7kms from Odessa, but it could easily be 7kms of shops. It is endless with 4 rows of parking between the fixed metal shops. I arrived at 8am and there was no parking. I’m guessing but it must be the largest outdoor market in the world (it’s the largest in Europe). 10 HAH for parking.
I then hit the Odessa “slow-mo, morning traffic jams, endless waits at roundabouts and lights.
Darth Vader Monument. In the NM “Bizzarium” series, this is in a small park behind a line of stores. On top of a 2m granite block, this black concrete sculpture must be 3m high. He’s holding a collapsed light wand in his right hand. The writing is all in Cyrillic.
A statue of Lenin in Odessa, Ukraine, that was scheduled for “decommunization” by president Petro Poroshenko has found new life as a monument to “Star Wars’” Darth Vader. Famous sculptor Alexander Milov, “The Bronze Lenin was left inside, so that the grateful or not so grateful descendants could exhume him, if needed,”
Odesa Catacombs are a labyrinth-like network of tunnels located under the city of Odessa and its outskirts, that are mostly (over 90%) the result of stone mining, particularly coquina. They consists of a network of basements, bunkers, drainage tunnels, storm drains as well as natural caves. The Catacombs are on three levels and reach a depth of 60 metres below sea level. It is one of the world’s largest urban labyrinths, running up to 2,500 kilometres.
In the 19th-century, most houses in Odessa were built of limestone that was mined nearby. These mines were abandoned and later used, and widened, by local smugglers creating a labyrinth of underground tunnels beneath Odessa.
Only one small portion of the catacombs is open to the public, within the “Museum of Partisan Glory” in Nerubayskoye, north of Odessa. Other caves attract extreme tourists, who explore the tunnels despite the dangers involved. Such tours are not officially sanctioned because the catacombs have not been fully mapped and the tunnels themselves are unsafe.
One company that offers tours is Green Tour info@greentourua,com – from 17€ to 100€ depending on number of people.
I doubt that Google Maps took me to the right place – an enormous open area surrounded by an unusual concrete wall surrounding weeds and bush on the east, the “catacombs area” – a 150 meter dirt bank – and on the other side a mature field of wheat.
Odesa Botanical Gardens ONU. Limited to groups, after a lot of whining, the lady let me see this gardens – many old trees, a few beds in bloom especially the roses. Free
Museum of Interesting Science. This is really for kids and not at all adult orientated. Lots of fun “experiments” and things to explore. 150 rhp, 120 reduced.
Odesa Zoo. This is a small zoo that is more like an amusement park than a zoo. The critters I found interesting: black swans, Indian porcupines, Serbian ibex, I was surprised at all the customers hand feeding the animals over and through the fences. The place was full of kids (school must be out), many of them drawing and all with bags of food. Amusement rides, pony and lama rides, private pay-for things (tarantulas). This is a pretty old-fashioned zoo with dated caging. 70, no reduction.
Pryvoz Market. Another gigantic market spread over several streets and blocks. Has everything including a flea market, 2 roofed vegetable markets, closed in meat market, and small stalls crammed with stuff. The north end is separated from the zoo by a dirty set of tram tracks.
Al Salam Mosque. The white outside has carved geometrics, a green/gold band and decorative crenellated roof line. The octagonal prayer hall is small and plain inside – blue walls, maqarnas around the bottom of the dome, writing in a band mid wall, nice blue/green/gold stained glass, and an elaborate cut glass chandelier. The mihrib is grey stone with some carving and the mimbah a small white stand. I always find mosques nice and serene. Free
Nicholas Roerich House. Opened in 2000, it tells the creative heritage of the Roenrich family, world-famous painter Nicholas Roerich (glass painted religious scenes, landscapes, street scenes), his wife and philosopher Helena Roerich and their sons, an orientalist Yury Roerich and a painter Svetoslav Roerich. The small apartment on the 2nd floor was crammed with art. All the labels were in Cyrillic and I couldn’t tell who did what. A large-scale model of the Indian subcontinent and Himalayas was in the centre of one room. There was a group of school kids visiting and one interviewed me. Free
Transfiguration Cathedral (Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral). The plain white walls are offset by all the white Carrara marble: floors, columns, icon surrounds, iconostasis, gold/bright brass embellishments: Corinthian capitals, angels at the tops of the walls, rosettes on the side aisle ceilings and arches, ribs of the ceiling 48 candle stands and chandeliers, and lovely frescoes and mosaics on the ceilings and lunettes below. The windows are clear glass and there are no chairs or pews in this new church. Free
Odesa Numismatics Museum. I find coin museums boring as hell, unless there are a lot of big gold coins. Medals too. 60
Odesa Pushkin Museum. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 – 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
Pushkin was born into Russian nobility in Moscow. He published his first poem at the age of 15, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation. Upon graduation from the Lycee, Pushkin recited his controversial poem “Ode to Liberty”, one of several that led to his being exiled by Tsar Alexander the First. While under the strict surveillance of the Tsar’s political police and unable to publish, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama Boris Godunov. His novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, was serialized between 1825 and 1832.
Pushkin was fatally wounded in a duel with his brother-in-law, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d’Anthès, also known as Dantes-Gekkern, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment, who attempted to seduce the poet’s wife, Natalia Pushkina.
This literary/memorial museum relating the Odessa period of Alexander Pushkin who spent 13 months in 1823-1824 in Odessa. He sang his poems in Odessa. The street on which he lived during some time was called the Italian, (now Pushkinskaya) opened in 1961. In his letters he wrote that Odessa was a city where “the air is filled with all Europe, French is spoken and there are European papers and magazines to read”.
This is my 4th Pushkin museum – everywhere he lived has opened one. Only in Russian, the book that explains anything was 60. 50 uuuu, no reduction
Museum of Western and Eastern Art. In a grand building with high ceilings covered gilt, this museum presents 1500-2000 art with no particular organization plus some furniture, porcelain, fans and others. Not much I liked except some of the bronzes. There were 2 galleries of recent paintings by John Sebastian and Arsen Savadov. At last some of the labels were in English.
The oriental part, in three small rooms, was much more interesting: Iran embroidery, ivory (dragon and elephant) and jade. 60, 30 reduction
Odesa Archaeological Museum. The usual Stone Age to Greeks and Romans including several Iranian groups that moved through (Scythians). One thing I have not seen before were all the stone molds for making bronze axes, spears and arrow heads. Nice Egyptian sarcophagi. 70, no reduction
Maritime Museum. In a grand orange/white building across from the Archaeology Museum, it had the usual: lot of ship models, the Odessa Port and the role Odessa played in Black Sea naval history.
Potemkin Stairs. This 132m long, wide set of stairs (constructed 1837-41) leads from Istanbul Park and the main touristic square of Odessa down to the waterfront. There are 200 steps in 10 groups of 20 – the landings between sets lengthens so the perspective is changed.
In 1905, Odessa was the site of a workers’ uprising supported by the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin and Lenin’s Iskra. Sergei Eisenstein’s famous motion picture The Battleship Potemkin commemorated the uprising and included a scene where hundreds of Odessan citizens were murdered on the great stone staircase (now popularly known as the “Potemkin Steps”), in one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history. At the top of the steps, which lead down to the port, stands a statue of the Duc de Richelieu. The actual massacre took place in streets nearby, not on the steps themselves, but the film caused many to visit Odessa to see the site of the “slaughter”.
Sailor’s Wife. The statue is on the SW side of the wharf on top of the large platform on a small outpouching. She is looking out to sea – a young woman in modern dress holding a young child (about 6) standing on the railing in her arms.
Vorontsov Lighthouse. Standing well out from the shore at the end of a spit this is a red-and-white, 27.2 metre tall lighthouse. It is named after Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, one of the governors-general of the Odessa region.
The lighthouse was built with iron tubing and lead gaskets. It has a one-million-watt signal light that can be seen up to twelve nautical miles (22 km) away. It transmits the Morse Code signal of three dashes, the letter O, for Odessa. It also sounds a foghorn during severe storms or fog.
The lighthouse is connected with the port’s shoreline by a long stone causeway and jetty, which protect the port from the southern high seas. The port is protected on the east by huge concrete breakwaters built on rocks, that rise above the water.
The current lighthouse is the third to stand on the same spot. The first was built in 1862 and was made of wood. I don’t think it is accessible.
Odesa Funicular. Beside the Potemkin Stairs, I took this back up to the top. 5
Odesa Museum of Regional History
Prehistory. Odessa was the site of a large Greek settlement no later than the middle of the 6th century BC. Archaeological artifacts confirm extensive links between the Odessa area and the eastern Mediterranean.
In the Middle Ages successive rulers of the Odessa region included various nomadic tribes (Petchenegs, Cumans), the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Ottoman Empire. Yedisan Crimean Tatars traded there in the 14th century.
Since the middle of the 13th century the city’s territory belonged to the Golden Horde domain. On Italian navigational maps of 14th century on the place of Odessa is indicated the castle of Ginestra. At times when the Northern Black Sea littoral was controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, there existed a settlement of Kachibei which at first was mentioned in 1415. By middle of 15th century the settlement was depopulated.
During the reign of Khan Hacı I Giray of Crimea (1441–1466), the Khanate was endangered by the Golden Horde and the Ottoman Turks and, in search of allies, the khan agreed to cede the area to Lithuania. The site of present-day Odessa was then a fortress known as Khadjibey.
Ottoman Yedisan. Khadjibey came under direct control of the Ottoman Empire after 1529 as part of a region known as Yedisan. In the mid-18th century, the Ottomans rebuilt the fortress at Khadjibey (also was known Hocabey), which was named Yeni Dünya.
Russian conquest of Sanjak of Özi (Ochacov Oblast). The sleepy fishing village that Odessa had witnessed a sea-change in its fortunes when the wealthy magnate and future Voivode of Kiev, Antoni Protazy Potocki, established trade routes through the port for the Polish Black Sea Trading Company and set up the infrastructure in the 1780s. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1787–1792, Russia formally gained possession of the Sanjak of Özi (Ochacov Oblast)
The city of Odessa, founded by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, centers on the port: it had an ice-free harbor, breakwaters could be cheaply constructed that would render the harbor safe and it would have the capacity to accommodate large fleets.
In 1795 Khadjibey was officially renamed as Odessa after a Greek colony of Odessos that supposedly was located in the area. The first census that was conducted in Odessa was in 1797 that accounted for 3,455 people.
In the mid-19th century Odessa became a resort town famed for its popularity among the Russian upper classes. This popularity prompted a new age of investment in the building of hotels and leisure projects.
In the period from 1795 to 1814 the population of Odessa increased 15 times over and reached almost 20 thousand people. The new city quickly became a major success although initially it received little state funding and privileges. Its early growth owed much to the work of the Duc de Richelieu, who served as the city’s governor between 1803 and 1814.
By the early 1900s Odessa had become a large, thriving city, complete with European architecture and electrified urban transport.
In 1819, the city became a free port, a status it retained until 1859. It became home to an extremely diverse population of Albanians, Armenians, Azeris, Bulgarians, Crimean Tatars, Frenchmen, Germans (including Mennonites), Greeks, Italians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, and traders representing many other nationalities (hence numerous “ethnic” names on the city’s map, for example Frantsuzky (French) and Italiansky (Italian) Boulevards, Grecheskaya (Greek), Yevreyskaya (Jewish), Arnautskaya (Albanian) Streets). Its cosmopolitan nature was documented by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived in internal exile in Odessa between 1823 and 1824. In his letters he wrote that Odessa was a city where “the air is filled with all Europe, French is spoken and there are European papers and magazines to read”.
Odessa’s growth was interrupted by the Crimean War of 1853–1856, during which it was bombarded by British and Imperial French naval forces. It soon recovered and the growth in trade made Odessa Russia’s largest grain-exporting port. In 1866, the city was linked by rail with Kiev and Kharkiv as well as with Iaşi in Romania.
The city became the home of a large Jewish community during the 19th century, and by 1897 Jews were estimated to comprise some 37% of the population. The community, however, was repeatedly subjected to anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish agitation from almost all Christian segments of the population. Pogroms were carried out in 1821, 1859, 1871, 1881 and 1905. Many Odessan Jews fled abroad after 1882, particularly to the Ottoman region that became Palestine, and the city became an important base of support for Zionism.
Beginnings of revolution. With the end of the World War I and withdrawal of armies of Central Powers, the Soviet forces fought for control over the country with the army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. Finally, by 1920 the Soviet Red Army managed to overpower both Ukrainian and Russian White Army and secure the city.
The people of Odessa suffered badly from a famine that resulted from the Russian Civil War in 1921–1922 due to the Soviet policies of prodrazverstka.
World War II. Odessa was attacked by Romanian and German troops in August 1941. The defense of Odessa lasted 73 days from 5 August to 16 October 1941. The defense was organized on three lines with emplacements consisting of trenches, anti-tank ditches and pillboxes. The first line was 80 kilometrers long and situated some 25 to 30kms from the city. The second and main line of defense was situated 6 to 8kms from the city and was about 30kms long. The third and last line of defense was organized inside the city itself.
Before being occupied by Romanian troops in 1941, a part of the city’s population, industry, infrastructure and all cultural valuables possible were evacuated to inner regions of the USSR and the retreating Red Army units destroyed as much as they could of Odessa’s remaining harbour facilities. The city was land mined in the same way as Kiev.
During World War II, from 1941–1944, Odessa was subject to Romanian administration, as the city had been made part of Transnistria. Partisan fighting continued, however, in the city’s catacombs.
Following the Siege of Odessa, and the Axis occupation, approximately 25,000 Odessans were murdered in the outskirts of the city and over 35,000 deported; this came to be known as the Odessa massacre. Most of the atrocities were committed during the first six months of the occupation that officially began on 17 October 1941, when 80% of the 210,000 Jews in the region were killed, compared to Jews in Romania proper where the majority survived. After the Nazi forces began to lose ground on the Eastern Front, the Romanian administration changed its policy, refusing to deport the remaining Jewish population to extermination camps in German occupied Poland, and allowing Jews to work as hired labourers. As a result, despite the tragic events of 1941, the survival of the Jewish population in this area was higher than in other areas of occupied eastern Europe.
The city suffered severe damage and sustained many casualties over the course of the war. Many parts of Odessa were damaged during both its siege and recapture on 10 April 1944, when the city was finally liberated by the Red Army. Subsequent Soviet policies imprisoned and executed numerous Odessans (and deported most of the German and Tatar population) on account of collaboration with the occupiers.
Postwar history. During the 1960s and 1970s, the city grew. Nevertheless, the majority of Odessa’s Jews emigrated to Israel, the United States and other Western countries between the 1970s and 1990s. Many ended up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brighton Beach, sometimes known as “Little Odessa”. Domestic migration of the Odessan middle and upper classes to Moscow and Leningrad, cities that offered even greater opportunities for career advancement, also occurred on a large scale. Despite this, the city grew rapidly by filling the void of those left with new migrants from rural Ukraine and industrial professionals invited from all over the Soviet Union.
Nowadays the city is undergoing a phase of widespread urban restoration.
As a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the city preserved and somewhat reinforced its unique cosmopolitan mix of Russian/Ukrainian/Jewish culture and a predominantly Russophone environment with the uniquely accented dialect of Russian spoken in the city. The city’s unique identity has been formed largely thanks to its varied demography; all the city’s communities have influenced aspects of Odessan life in some way or form.
Odessa is a city of more than 1 million people. The city’s industries include shipbuilding, oil refining, chemicals, metalworking, and food processing. Odessa is also a Ukrainian naval base and home to a fishing fleet. It is known for its large outdoor market – the Seventh-Kilometer Market, the largest of its kind in Europe.
The city has seen violence in the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine during 2014 Odessa clashes. The 2 May 2014 Odessa clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian protestors killed 42 people. Four were killed during the protests, and at least 32 trade unionists were killed after a trade union building was set on fire and its exits blocked by Ukrainian nationalists. Polls conducted from September to December 2014 found no support for joining Russia.
Odessa was struck by three bomb blasts in December 2014, one of which killed one person (the injuries sustained by the victim indicated that he had dealt with explosives). Internal Affairs Ministry advisor Zorian Shkiryak said on 25 December that Odessa and Kharkiv had become “cities which are being used to escalate tensions” in Ukraine. On 5 January 2015 the city’s Euromaidan Coordination Center and a cargo train car were (non-lethally) bombed.
Monument to the Founders of Odesa (Monument to Catherine II). She founded Odessa. Her left hand points to the site where the new city was laid and her right hand holds the decree on Odessa foundation with the words “Let there be a port and a city”. The banner of the fortress is at the foot. On the four sides of the granite column are the bronze statues of Catherine’s confederates the other founders. It was opened in 1900, the 100th anniversary of the death of the great military leader, General Alexander Suvorov. It was dismantled and destroyed during the Free Labour Holiday celebrating International Labour day on May 1, 1920 and reconstructed on 2007.
It has a 3-tiered granite block base with the marble column and Catherine on top.
Monument to Steve Jobs. Sitting on the sidewalk of a nondescript street, it is a hand with the Apple “apple” cut out of the palm. It is a wonderful construction using gears, bearings, sprockets, metal plates, bolts and various bits of metal. It sits on a small base made of the same things with “Thanks Steve” in English and Cyrillic.
Lanzheron Beach. About 200m long, this sand/shell beach is immensely popular. It has a breakwater, buoys marking the limit of swimming, life guards, hundreds of lounge chairs and many umbrellas and at 6pm there were still a thousand people here.
Nemo Public Aquarium. This has two parts: a dolphin show with regular shows 300 UAH, photos 1000, diving with dolphins 4000, dolphin training 3000 and young trainer 3500-5000 and an aquarium. The aquarium has fresh water fish and a wide range of saltwater fish with an emphasis on the Black Sea. The Exotarium has spiders, cockroaches, stick insects, lizards, toads and snakes and a special exhibit on desert animals. 300 UAH
Koblevo Beach. The town of Koblevo is a resort town on the Black Sea all about the beach, a kilometer long stretch of sand, lounge chairs and umbrellas. On a hot day in June, the beach was already crowded at 9am. The water is fairly shallow here and you can wade out a long ways to get waist high.
MYKOLAIV
There was a Soviet Army memorial with a army truck.
Mykolayiv Astronomical Observatory. A tentative WHS (12/03/2007), I visited here but it appears to not be open much. The description from the tentative WHS gives a concise description of what I saw.
Mykolayiv Astronomical Observatory, the oldest naval observatory in the South-East Europe. Situated at the top of the Spasky Barrow on sea level of 52m. The total area of the ensemble is 7,l hectares.
The observatory was founded in 1821 by the Commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral 0. Greig.
Activity of observatory was aimed at providing the Black Sea Fleet with precise clocks, navigation maps, sailing directions and training of navigators in astronomical methods of orientation. Modern directions of research are: determination of precise positions of stars, compilation of catalogues, improvement the knowledge about orbits and masses of the solar system bodies, observations and investigations of the near-Earth space, astronomical instrument-making, history of astronomy. NAO took part in the creation of the fundamental coordinate system by contributing 14 stellar catalogues of high accuracy.
The main entrance of the observatory is decorated with a six-columned Greek portico.- he wide stairs made in front of the portico lead into a main auditorium. The auditorium has a square form with the side of 10m. Sixteen columns rose to the hemisphere ceiling in a circle of eight meters in the main auditorium.
A cylindrical rotunda is situated on the flat roof above the auditorium. Four doors towards the four directions of the world and twelve windows in rotunda walls were made to observe the celestial bodies by using portable astronomical instruments. The main auditorium is connected with eastern hall in which two meridian telescopes, namely, the meridian circle and the passage instrument were installed.
There are astronomical pavilions built at the beginning of the 2oth century in which historical astronomical instruments, such as the meridian circle made by Repsold (1832) and the passage instrument made by Freiberg & Kondratiev (1898) are preserved. There are also three modem pavilions for working telescopes under automatic control: the axial meridian circle, the multichannel telescope, the fast robotic telescope used for research and observations. The axial meridian circle was inscribed in the list of the National Heritage of Ukraine.
V.V. Vereshchagin Mykolaiv Art Museum. Vereshchagin (1842-1904) was a Russian painter of war, most scenes are from India and are very large. The two most common themes were dead soldiers being cannibalized by birds and tigers, monumental Himalayan snow scenes and four scenes in a hospital with a nurse transcribing a letter from a dying soldier. He didn’t live in Mykolaiv but was associated with Admiral Makarov from here.
A lovely woman who spoke English gave me a nice introduction to the museum. 98% of the labels were in Ukrainian and most of the art is local artists dating from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. The permanent exhibition consisted of icons, portraits, landscapes, folk scenes, some furniture, porcelain and sculpture. I enjoyed the art. 30 UAH
Mykolaiv Regional Museum. This has the usual: archaeology, ethnography and local history with lots of photos, all in Ukrainian. Another museum I learned nothing about the city or region. 30 HAH
Mykolaiv Zoo. This zoo was not as bad as I expected but there were no English labels. There were a lot of primates including some great mandrills (who I say in Nigeria). All zoos in Ukraine seem to have a lot of Shetland ponies, camels and domesticated animals you are encouraged to interact with. A sign said not to feed the raccoon hot dogs especially loaded ones.
There is a botanical part to the zoo with many informative signs. 80 UAH
KHERSON
There was Soviet Army monument with a Soviet tank.
Kherson Regional Art Museum. All labels are in Ukrainian so I could not tell any of the artist. On the 1st floor is some very nice art – bodies flying around and very well done (Victor ?) and lovely water colours from the 40s. On the 2nd in the Great Hall (that holds concerts, conferences and literary evenings) are some very nice small bronze and marble sculpture. The 3rd floor is the most unusual (Michael ? from Kerson) with surreal representations of our world. After every room there is someone pointing you in the right direction and keeping their eye on you. This was a worthwhile side trip. 30 UAH
I had a big drive to Melitopol. 179kms takes almost 3 hours on these roads. Ukrainian roads are an adventure unto themselves. One sees the entire range over relatively short stretches – lovely 4-lane expressway that can turn into minefield of potholes negotiable at 5kms/hour. Most is heavily patched with random potholes. In the bad stretches, cars are weaving all over the road avoiding them.
NOMAD MANIA Ukraine – South (Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson)
World Heritage Sites: Struve Geodetic Arc
Tentative WHS:
Astronomical Observatories of Ukraine (30/01/2008)
Historic Center of the Port City of Odesa (06/01/2009)
Mykolayiv Astronomical Observatory (12/03/2007)
National Steppe Biosphere Reserve “Askaniya Nowa” (13/09/1989)
Islands: Dzharylhach
Borders:
Moldova ‘proper’-Ukraine
Moldova Transnistria-UkraineRomania-Ukraine
Ukraine (sea border/port)
XL:
Budjak (Izmail)
Zmiyinyy island
Villages and Small Towns: Vylkove
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Ukraine Intercity Railway Experience
Museums:
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Lore Museum
Ochakiv: Military History Museum
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi fortress (Akkerman Fortress)
World of Nature:
Askania-Nova
Danube Biosphere Reserve
Lower Dniester
Lighthouses: Adziogol Lighthouse
Beaches:
Karolino-Buhaz
Koblevo Beach
Zatoka
European Cities
KHERSON
Airports: Kherson (KHE)
Museums: Kherson Regional Art Museum
MYKOLAIV
Tentative WHS: Mykolayiv Astronomical Observatory (12/03/2007)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Mykolaiv Trams
Museums:
Mykolaiv Regional Museum
V.V. Vereshchagin Mykolaiv Art Museum
Zoos: Mykolaiv Zoo
ODESA
Tentative WHS: Historic Center of the Port City of Odesa (06/01/2009)
Sights:
Odesa Catacombs
Potemkin Stairs
Airports: Odesa (ODS)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Odesa Funicular, Odesa trams
Museums:
Museum of Interesting Science
Odesa Archaeological Museum
Odesa Fine Arts Museum
Odesa Museum of Regional History
Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art
Odesa Numismatics Museum
Odesa Pushkin Museum
House Museums/Plantations: Nicholas Roerich House Museum
Religious Temples:
Al Salam Mosque
Transfiguration Cathedral (Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral)
Festivals
Humorina
Z-Games
Zoos: Odesa Zoo
Botanical Gardens: Odesa Botanical Gardens ONU
Aquariums: Nemo Public Aquarium
Lighthouses: Vorontsov Lighthouse
Beaches: Odesa: Lanzheron
Markets:
Pryvoz Market
Seventh-Kilometer Market
Monuments:
Monument to Steve Jobs
Monument to the Founders of Odesa (Monument to Catherine II)
Sailor’s Wife
Maritime/Ship Museums:
M-305
Maritime Museum
Bizzarium: Darth Vader Monument