Odessa and the Crimea belong to Ukraine nowadays, but this is a very recent development. In Tsarist times the whole area on the shores of the Black Sea was referred to as “New Russia”, while landlocked Ukraine was also known as “Small Russia”. New Russia was founded in the time of Catherine The (...)

The Crimea has been habitated since ancient times. The first settlers who have left traces were the Scyths. Later came Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Armenians, Goths and Alans. For a while the Crimea belonged to the Byzanthian Empire. During the migration of the people various peoples temporarily or (...)

Soon after it’s integration into the Russian Empire the Crimea started to attract the Russian nobility. The climate, the combination of mountains and sea, the romantic coastal rock formations pleased anyone who could afford to spend his summer and other holidays there. The nature and the climate (...)

Odessa was founded in 1794 by Catherine the Great, in the place of a rather unimportant Turkish fortress. Originally it was planned to build a town and port in a different place, but the military experts convinced her Highness to choose this site. The name was taken from an ancient settlement (...)