Odessa Oblast

Geography

Ukraine's largest oblast by area, the Odessa Oblast occupies an area of around 33,314 square kilometres (12,863 sq mi). It is characterised by largely flat steppes - part of the Black Sea Lowland - divided by the estuary of the Dniester river. Its Black Sea coast has numerous sandy beaches, estuaries and lagoons. The region's soils (especially chernozems) have a reputation for fertility, and intensive agriculture is the mainstay of the local rural economy. The southwest has many orchards and vineyards, while arable crops grow throughout the region.

History

Evidence of the earliest inhabitants in this area comes from the settlements and burial grounds of the Neolithic Gumelniţa, Cucuteni-Trypillian and Usatovo cultures, as well as from the tumuli and hoards of the Bronze Age Proto-Indo-Europeans. In the 1st millennium B.C. Milesian Greeks founded colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea, including the towns of Olbia, Tyras, Niconium, Panticapaeum, and Chersonesus. The Greeks left behind painted vessels, ceramics, sculptures, inscriptions, arts and crafts that indicate the prosperity of their ancient civilisation.

The culture of Scythian tribes inhabiting the Black Sea littoral steppes in the first millennium B.C. has left artefacts in settlements and burial grounds, including weapons, bronze cauldrons, other utensils, and adornments. By the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. the Sarmatians displaced the Scythians. In the 3rd–4th centuries A.D. a tribal alliance, represented by the items of Chernyakhov culture, developed. From the middle of the first millennium the formation of the Slavic people began. In the 9th century the eastern Slavs united into a state with Kiev as its centre. The Khazars, Polovtsy and Pechenegs were the Slavs' neighbours during different times. Archeological evidence of the period of the 9th–14th centuries survives in materials from the settlements and cities of Kievan Rus': Belgorod, Caffa- Theodosia, and Berezan Island.

The Mongols took over the Black Sea littoral in the 13th century.

From about 1290 parts of the region were territories of the Republic of Genoa, becoming a center of Genoese commercial activity until at least the middle of the 14th century.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania acquired the area at the beginning of the 15th century.

In 1593 the Ottoman Empire set up in the area what became known as its Dnieper Province (Özü Eyalet), unofficially known as the Khanate of Ukraine. Russian historiography refers to the area from 1791 as the Ochakov Oblast.The territory of the Odessa oblast passed to Russian control in 1791 in the course of the Russian southern expansion towards the Black Sea at the end of the 18th century.

After the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia the area became part of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1918), but soon succumbed first to the Russian Volunteer Army (part of the White movement) and then to the Russian Bolshevik Red Army. By 1920 the Soviet authorities had secured the territory of Odesa Oblast, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR. The oblast was established on 27 February 1932 from five districts: Odessa Okruha, Pervomaisk Okruha, Kirovohrad Okruha, Mykolaiv Okruha, and Kherson Okruha.

In 1937 the Central Executive Committee of the USSR split off the eastern portions of the Odessa Oblast to form the Mykolaiv Oblast.[citation needed]

During World War II Axis forces conquered the area and Romania occupied the oblast and administered it as part of the Transnistria Governorate (1941-1944). After the war the Soviet administration reestablished the oblast with its pre-war boders.

Odesa Oblast expanded in 1954 to absorb Izmail Oblast (also known as the Budjak region of Bessarabia), formed in 1940 as a result of the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (from Romania), when Northern and Southern parts of Bessarabia were given to the Ukrainian SSR.

During the 1991 referendum, 85.38% of votes in Odessa Oblast favored the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. A survey conducted in December 2014 by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology found that 2.3% of the oblast's population supported their region joining Russia, 91.5% did not support the idea, and the rest were undecided or did not respond. A poll reported by Alexei Navalny and conducted in September 2014 found similar results.

Where to go for the weekend from Odessa? Tourist routes and sights of the Odessa region

Odessa region is the mecca of tourism in Ukraine. Here you will find ancient fortresses and estates, beaches and boat trips, unique landscapes of Bessarabia, little Venice - Vilkovo and many other unique and interesting places. Making routes in the Odessa region is a pleasure, because the sea is always a good idea.

First, you will find lists of sights in the lists, and below - routes (what and with what is most convenient to combine). As a separate item I want to make the beaches and resorts of the Odessa region. You can find them in this article: Where to go to the sea in Ukraine 2020? Sea guide

Castles, estates, palaces and cathedrals of Odessa region

Akkerman fortress (Belgorod-Dnestrovsky)

Palace of Kurys (village of Petrovka)

Wolf Man's Manor

Underground Church of Ioann Sochavsky

Sarmatian crypt

Church of John the Evangelist

Fortress in Izmail

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Assumption Church)

Palace of Kuris (Isaevo)

Kulevcha - a place of power

Semi-underground temple in Kiliya

Ruins of the Lutheran Church in Velikokomarovka

Church of Constantine and Helena

Ruins of the church in Kamenka : Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Underground Monastery of the Innocents

Natural attractions of the Odessa region

Yalpug and Kagul lakes

Serpent's Island

Danube Biosphere Reserve

Tuzlovsky estuaries

Savran forest

Kuyalnik

Hadjibey estuary

Lower Dniester National Natural Park

Interesting places in Odessa region

Bessarabian village "Frumushika-Nova"

Underground catacombs (Nerubayskoye)

Magnetic Observatory and Kuznetsov's Estate

Ecopark and Settlement Kartal

Spring of St. Anne and Convent

Cossack cemetery on Shkodova Gora

Republic of Roses

Serpentine Patroclus

Pereima: an unusual stone

New Vasyuki Ethnopark (Ostrich Farm)

Wake park "Chernomorsky"

Wooden mill in Budei village

Wooden mill in Budei village

The famous wooden mill in the village of Budei, in the Kodymsky district of the Odessa region. Its wingspan reaches 16 meters.

The village of Kodyma is located in the floodplain of the Kodyma River and is surrounded by greenery around. Each tract has its own name - "Chabanka", "Gypsy", "Curve", "Oleksyukova", "Fire", "controversial".

How to get there: Kodyma has a convenient railway connection with the cities of Odessa, Kiev, Vinnitsa, Uman, Lviv, Uzhgorod, Chernivtsi, Khmelnitsky, Kherson and others.

Routes in the Odessa region for independent travel:

If you love independent travel without tour operators and agencies, my routes are created just for you. Here you will find ideas for independent road trips, links to albums with photos and videos that I brought from the trip, interesting stories and useful tips. All waypoints are marked on the map.

So, interesting places in the Odessa region are waiting for us!

Odessa route number 1: wolf estates, safaris, palaces and mud

The route is ideal for those who love ruins, are interested in history, palaces and castles, who care about natural landscapes and who have children. And also for those who have always wanted to pet a giraffe. Yes!

The route includes 2 abandoned estates, the former grandeur of which is amazing, a biopark in Odessa, Kuyalnitsky Estuary and an old sanatorium.

Odessa route number 2: Akkerman and Zatoka

Surprisingly, most of the inhabitants of the Odessa region have never seen the Belgorod-Dniester fortress. And it is one of the largest not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe! Can you imagine?

Akkerman fortress is an ideal place for a summer weekend. Especially if you have kids. How to get to the fortress, what to do and how to have fun, read on my blog

Akkerman fortress or Belgorod-Dniester fortress

You can supplement your vacation with the sea and the golden beaches of Zatoka and Karolino-Bugaz.

Odessa route number 3: Gastronomic (Shabo and Cheese Factory)

Shabo Wine Culture Center

After the end of the beach season, you can think about other types of tourism. For example, about gastro tourism and such a direction as wine tours. Of course, you can go to France for a tasting, or you can go to a winery in the south and south-west of Ukraine, where the traditions of making wine also date back centuries.

From Odessa to the village of Shabo - almost an hour and a half by car. Shabo is one of the oldest wine regions in Europe. Once it was a Swiss colony, created specifically for viticulture, since Shabo is located in the so-called "wine latitude": here the soil and the sun grow the best grapes, which skilled winemakers turn into a noble drink that can awaken respect for wine as a centuries-old tradition of different peoples .

Shabo is a place where you can learn everything about winemaking from the beginning of grape growth to wine making and all the intricacies of the culture of consumption of this noble drink. Hundreds of tourists come here not only to see how wine is made, but also to learn its history, to learn to perceive wine as a culture.

The territory of the center is large: there is a museum of history, and production workshops, and warehouses, and the fountain of Dionysus in the center, and a tasting room, and a store.

Tour of the center 200 UAH

Excursion + tasting 280 UAH

How to get there: Public transport runs to Shabo from Odessa and Belgorod-Dnestrovsky.

European cheese factory

Excursion and tasting of eco-cheeses made in strict observance of the technologies of Dutch cheese makers.

In just one year of operation, the European Cheese Dairy , located in the village of Shabo Odessa, has become one of the best enterprises in the region and a place of real “pilgrimage” for tourists. More than 2 tons of milk are processed here every day, making 11 types of cheese using Dutch technology.

Entrepreneurs quickly realized that they needed not only to make cheese, but also to demonstrate the process to visitors. Today, the cheese factory has become part of the tourist route in Shabo on a par with the local winery. They take excursions every hour - for 100 UAH per person you can visit the farm, which is located at a distance of 2 km from the cheese factory, see the production process of cheese making (takes place behind glass), play with the small pets of the mini-zoo, attend tastings and purchase cheese in the company store. The price of cheese is an average of 300 UAH per kilogram. The cheese factory can accommodate up to 150-200 visitors per day. Now they are developing a sales base in local restaurants and local craft shop selling cheese. In principle, they do not plan to enter retail chains with their products, stating that

Odessa route number 4: Amazonia: Birds and lilies. Departure to the Dniester

The Ukrainian Amazon is called the Dniester floodplains near the village of Mayaki, Odessa region. To date, tourism is actively developing there, guest houses and fishing houses are being built.

I advise you to visit excursions in the Lower Dniester National Natural Park, you can find out more on their website nnpp.org.ua

Odessa route number 5: Kartal and buffaloes

Did you know that a herd of Indian buffalo lives in the Odessa region? And the fact that we have the youngest land in Europe - Lake Kartal?