ahhh ... Odessa - the pearl near the sea...

don't know why..but decided to tell you a bit about Odessa...

ok..let's start our journey around Odessa... =)

Odessa... The city is the major seaport located on the north-west shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with the population of 1,029,000 (as of the 2001 census)...

SOME INTERESTING FACTS:

#1 Odessa catacombs

Most of Odessa 19-th century houses were built of limestone mined nearby.

Abandoned mines were later used and broadened my local smugglers.

This created a gigantic  complicated labyrinth of underground tunnels beneath Odessa, known as  "catacombs".

During the World War II those served as a hiding place for partisans.

They are now a great atraction for extreme tourists.

Such tours, however, are not oficially sanctioned , and are dangerous because the layout of the catacombs has not been fully mapped and the tunnels themselves are unsafe.

the tunnels are primary reason why no subway system was ever built in Odessa...

but i wasn't there...may be some time... we'll see =)

ok...

#2  Potemkin Stairs

The Potemkin Stairs is a giant stairway in Odessa.

The stairs are considered to be a formal entrance to the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odessa.

The stairs were originally known as Boulevard Steps, the Giant Staircase or the Rechelieu steps.

The top step is 41 ft wide, and the lowest is 70,8 ft wide. The staircase is 27 metres high, and extends for 142 metres, but it gives an illusion of a greater length.

The stairs were designed to create an optic illusion.

A person looking down the stairs sees only the landings, and the steps are invisible., but a person looking up sees only steps, and the landings are invisible.

A secondary illusion creates false perspective since tha stairs are wider at the bottom than at the top.

Looking up the stairs makes them seem longer than they are, and looking down the stairs makes them seen not so long.

At the top of the stairs is a monument depicting  the Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu , a french nobleman who became Odessa's first governor.

that's not all info about Odessa... may be i'll tell you a bit more a bit later...