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Cityscape

Many of Odesa's buildings have, rather uniquely for a Ukrainian city, been influenced by the Mediterranean style of classical architecture. This is particularly noticeable in buildings built by architects such as the Italian Francesco Boffo, who in the early 19th-century built a palace and colonnade for the Governor of Odesa, Prince Mikhail Vorontsov, the Potocki Palace and many other public buildings.

In 1887 one of the city's most well known architectural monuments was completed – the theatre, which still hosts a range of performances to this day; it is widely regarded as one of the world's finest opera houses. The first opera house was opened in 1810 and destroyed by fire in 1873. The modern building was constructed by Fellner and Helmer in neo-baroque; its luxurious hall was built in the rococo style. It is said that thanks to its unique acoustics, even a whisper from the stage can be heard in any part of the hall. The theatre was projected along the lines of Dresden's Semperoper built in 1878, with its nontraditional foyer following the curvatures of the auditorium; the building's most recent renovation was completed in 2007.

Odesa's most iconic symbol, the Potemkin Stairs, is a vast staircase that conjures an illusion so that those at the top only see a series of large steps, while at the bottom all the steps appear to merge into one pyramid-shaped mass. The original 200 steps (now reduced to 192) were designed by Italian architect Francesco Boffo and built between 1837 and 1841. The steps were made famous by Sergei Eisenstein in his film, Battleship Potemkin.

Most of the city's 19th-century houses were built of limestone mined nearby. Abandoned mines were later used and broadened by local smugglers. This created a gigantic, complicated labyrinth of tunnels beneath Odesa, known as the Odesa catacombs. During World War II, the catacombs served as a hiding place for partisans and natural shelter for civilians, who were escaping airplane bombing.

Derybasivska Street, an attractive pedestrian avenue named after José de Ribas, the Neapolitan-born founder of Odesa and decorated Russian Navy Admiral from the Russo-Turkish War, is famous by its unique character and architecture. During the summer it is common to find large crowds of people leisurely sitting and talking on the outdoor terraces of numerous cafés, bars and restaurants, or simply enjoying a walk along the cobblestone street, which is not open to vehicular traffic and is kept shaded by the linden trees which line its route. A similar streetscape can also be found in that of Prymorsky Bulvar, a grand thoroughfare which runs along the edge of the plateau upon which the city is situated, and where many of the city's most imposing buildings are to be found.

As one of the biggest on the Black Sea, Odesa's port is busy all year round. The Odesa Seaport is located on an artificial stretch of the Black Sea coast, along with the north-western part of the Gulf of Odesa. The total shoreline length of Odesa's seaport is around 7.23 kilometres (4.49 mi). The port, which includes an oil refinery, container handling facility, passenger area and numerous areas for handling dry cargo, is lucky in that its work does not depend on seasonal weather; the harbour itself is defended from the elements by breakwaters. The port is able to handle up to 14 million tons of cargo and about 24 million tons of oil products annually, whilst its passenger terminals can cater for around 4 million passengers a year at full capacity.

As Odesa has been inhabited by peoples of different religions, it has a variety of religious buildings, such as the Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral, Catholic Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral, Lutheran St. Paul's Church, Brodsky Synagogue, and Al-Salam Mosque. There is also a number of historic cemeteries, including the Cossack Kuialnyk Cemetery.

In late 2022 one of the city's former central landmarks, the monument to the founders of Odesa with its statue of Catherine the Great, was dismantled and temporarily moved to the Odesa Fine Arts Museum.