Odessa’s museums
Odessa boasts a wide variety of museums; from tiny little memorial rooms dedicated to the lives of well-known figures, to huge and famous museums located in historical buildings. Here is some information about key museums which are definitely worth visiting during your stay.
Odessa State Literature Museum
More than 300 authors, whose fates and creativity were tightly interwoven with the story of Odessa, are represented in the works held here; authors such as Alexander Pushkin, Isaac Babel, Boris Pasternak and many others. It is therefore not merely a museum of authors, but also a museum of the history of the town and its culture.
Odessa Archaeological museum
This is one of the oldest museums founded on the territory of the former Soviet Empire. The museum holds the largest collection of sources on the ancient history of the North Pontic region. A visit here is therefore recommended for a better understanding of the region in which Odessa is located, as well as aesthetic pleasure.
Odessa Fine Arts Museum
This former palace of Countess Naryshkina is home to this museum. Its architecture encompasses the best traditions of Russian Classicism of the start of the 19th century. On the official website, you can take a virtual tour of the halls of the palace.
Odessa Regional History Museum
This is to be found in a building which has now acquired the status of “architectural monument of the late 19th century”. The expositions of the museum enable visitors to better understand the history and development of the city.
Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern art
This is also housed in a building declared to be an architectural monument. The palace, constructed between 1856 and 1858, was designed by the famous architect L. Otton and built in the spirit of the so-called Southern Eclectic, which was widespread at the time. This consists of features of the Baroque, alongside elements of the Empire and Rococo styles. This museum is open for some very unusual exhibitions, including modern art.
The Pushkin Museum
In his thirteen months of exile in Odessa, Pushkin managed to compose thirty works of lyrical poetry and the poem The Gypsies. He also worked on The Fountain of Bakhchisaray, as well as completing two chapters of Eugene Onegin! The Odessans could not fail to celebrate the fact Pushkin spent a short but nevertheless significant period of his life in their city, and in 1961 a memorial museum in his honour was opened.
Jewish Museum “Migda Shoraschim”
Hidden away in Nezhinskaya Street and opened in 2002, this little museum enables visitors to discover numerous artefacts relating to the rich Jewish history of Odessa (see photo). Around the year 1900 the Jewish community in Odessa was the third largest in the western world (after New York and Warsaw). Pogroms, mass emigration and the Holocaust after the German occupation in 1941 all but destroyed Jewish life in Odessa. The Jewish community here is now gradually starting to recover and thrive once more. (Website in German and English)
In Odessa there are many other museums and exhibitions with various interesting and informative expositions.