"... I have not felt so much at home for a long time as I did when I "raised the hill" and stood in Odessa for the first time. It looked just like an American city; fine, broad streets, and straight as well; low houses (two or three stories), wide, neat, and free from any quaintness of architectural ornamentation; locust trees bordering the sidewalks (they call them acacias); a stirring business-look among the streets and stores; fast walkers, a familiar new look about the houses and everything. Look up the street or down the street, this way or that way, we saw only America. There was not one thing to remind us that we were in Russia [sic]*. We walked for some little distance, reveling in this home vision, and then we came upon a church and a hack-driver, and presto: the illusion vanished!"
-- from Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad
*Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire at the time this was written.

These photographs of Odesa generously contributed by Peter Wehmann were taken in May 1998.

Click on the thumbnails for full-size views

	The Maritime Stairs, known popularly as the Potemkin (pronounced "patiomkeen" in Russian) Steps, built 1837-1842. The 192 steps lead down to the Black Sea post facility, and are immortalized in Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 film, Battleship Potemkin. "Based on the historical events the movie tells the story of a riot at the battleship Potemkin. What started as a protest strike when the crew was given rotten meat for dinner ended in a riot. The sailors raised the red flag and tried to ignite the revolution in their home port Odessa."
	View of Odesa's Black Sea port facility from the top of the Potemkin Steps.
	Primorskiy Boulevard with a monument of Duke De Richelieu, the French nobleman who was Odesa's governor from 1805 to 1816.
	Museum of Archeology on Lastochkin Street.
	Museum of Archeology -- another view.
	An inner courtyard in the historic section of Odesa.
	Dance students practicing in an auditorium.
	Newly married couple wander along Prymorskiy Boulevard with entourage.
	Side view of the Odesa Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Built 1884-1887 in Viennese neo-Renaissance style.
	Front view of the Odesa Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Undergoing restoration.
	An Orthodox monastery near the railroad station. Under Soviet rule it was used as as a planetarium, but is now being restored.
	Same Orthodox monastery.
	Odesa Railroad Station on Pryvokzal'na Square.
	Mayor's Office in Dumskaya Square at one end of Prymorskiy Boulevard. A statue of A.S. Pushkin stands in the evening shadow.
	Students performing on a stage set up at the front entrance to the Mayor's Office.
	Distant view of Odesa's World War II Memorial sometimes called the Alley of Glory. Constructed in 1961 in Shevchenko Park, a 225 acre park on a plateau which overlooks the Black Sea.
	Second floor of the Londonskaya Hotel, built 1867.
	Cobblestoned Primorskiy Boulevard outside the Londonskaya Hotel in Odesa.