Odessa was founded by decree of Catherine II in the very west of New Russia - in 1794. The Russian empress decided that the country needed a port on the Black Sea to trade with Europe. The project for the construction of the port city and the new fortress she commissioned to the Dutch military engineer Franz de Vollan. Franz de Vollan tried to embody the principles of ancient Roman town planning. Successfully located geographically, Odessa quickly became a commercial, industrial and scientific center of European importance. Already in 1984, Odessa took the 4th place in the Russian Empire in terms of population and level of economic development after St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw.He did much for the improvement of Odessa, whose Richelieu, the Emperor Alexander 1, appointed the governor-general of Odessa and the Novorossiysk Territory. There are still memories of the activities of Richelieu.

Richelieu landscaped the city, laid new streets, built large stone buildings, made improvements in the port and its work.1812 brought Odessa a plague epidemic, every ninth inhabitant of Odessa died of plague. Richelieu went on unheard of quarantine measures - he declares the whole Za-Bug part of the Kherson province in quarantine - the quarantine line on the Bug, Dniester, Kodyma rivers, on the land part of the Podolsk province stopped everyone and sent them to the next quarantines, 4, in which everyone should was to spend a 30 day observation. Sea intercourse, as well as all fishing, was prohibited. By December 31, 1812, 4,038 people in the city became sick with plague, 2,632 died.As a kind of monument to the victims of the plague, on the Piping Street rises the mountain "Chumka", under which the victims of epidemics are buried. This mountain originated behind the old Christian cemetery. At this place, those who died of the plague were buried during the epidemics of 1812, 1829 and 1837. There are also other places of burial of the dead from the plague, but the mountain "Chumka" is the largest burial.In 1815, Richelieu left Odessa.Under Lanzheron, the Highest Decree of 1817 established a free-port in Odessa, carried out in 1819, when work was completed on encircling the city with a moat and on arranging Kherson and Tiraspol customs to pass the goods paid outside the port.

More information about Odessa can be found on the website - http://odessamedia.net

Thanks to him, Odessa became a storage place for foreign goods, spreading from here not only in Russia, but through transit, and in Austria, and through the Caucasus - in Persia. At the same time, the import of Russian goods has significantly decreased. In 1818, the Odessa office of a state-owned commercial bank began its operations, which greatly contributed to the development of trade.In 1823, Count Vorontsov was appointed Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory and Plenipotentiary Governor of Bessarabia. Count his residence in Odessa.Odessa also developed on land, and already in 1866 Odessa was connected by rail with Kiev and Kharkov.During the First World War, Odessa was attacked from the sea - on October 29, 1914, the Turkish fleet under the command of German Admiral Sushon attacked the city and the port. The revolutions of February and October 1917 brought with them the chaos and the beginning of the civil war. The city survived the devastation and the frequent change of government.

January 18, 1918 in Odessa, the Soviet government was proclaimed. However, the Odessa Soviet Republic existed for a very short time, and on March 13, 1918, it was liquidated by the Austro-German troops occupying Ukraine.Soviet power returned to Odessa during the creation of the Ukrainian SSR.During the Second World War, Odessa suffered huge losses, Odessa was almost completely destroyed. 73 days the Nazis were at the borders of the city. The heroic defense of Odessa was carried out by the soldiers of the Maritime Army, the Black Sea Fleet and the population of Odessa. Odessa was liberated by the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (commander - Army General R. Ya. Malinovsky) on April 10, 1944 - the flag of liberation was raised above the portico of the Odessa Opera Theater.In the twentieth century, the city became a major industrial center. New engineering and metalworking factories, factories and many other enterprises have appeared.

The seaport developed and increased its scale.In the 90s, after the collapse of the USSR, many industrial enterprises were destroyed and looted, others work only for a part of their capacities. Only trade develops, new markets open. One of these markets is the "7th kilometer", it gave a large number of jobs. People who lost their jobs in enterprises acquired a new profession in the field of trade .... Racket and banditry also flourished. After the collapse of most of the enterprises and factories, the city authorities have sold off most of the coastal zone, and continues to sell them in our time. Odessa during its existence has learned a lot of grief, but passed through all the hardships with her head held high. Odessa is faced with the fact that each new mayor and his team brings only one loss to the city and its citizens. The last mayor of Odessa, A. Kostusev, has greatly worsened the life of Odessa citizens, let's see what awaits us further ...