Odessa. Marine Station and surrounding areas (33 photos)
Today we will take a walk around the maritime terminal and its immediate surroundings. The maritime station is larger than the railway station, because Odessa is the Black Sea gate of the USSR (and now Ukraine). Although, I wouldn't say it's more beautiful.
Source: periskop
1. This is what the “tongue” with the marine terminal protruding into the Gulf of Odessa looks like when you look at it from the top of the Potemkin Stairs, standing behind the Duke. This “language” cuts the territory of the commercial seaport in two. Behind the seaport you can see the Odessa Hotel (a remodel in recent years). On the right is a funicular elevator.
2. And this is what the same angle looked like 26 and a half years ago, when I was in Odessa for the first time (September 1983). Then, as you can see, this “language” looked different: firstly, there was no high-rise “Odessa”, and secondly, at the sea terminal there was much more traffic at that time, many times over. Now it’s like this: more gloss and polish, but much less life. Then, in 1983, it was the other way around: in just three days in Odessa I saw five different cruise ships (two of them are visible in the photo); and besides them, there was intensive Black Sea passenger cabotage - ships constantly sailed to Sevastopol, Yalta, Poti, Sukhumi, Sochi, Novorossiysk, Kherson, Feodosia. People were constantly getting on and off; at the station there were many ticket offices of different directions; buses with groups arrived - in general, life was really in full swing. Now this is not the case, everything has changed, and local cabotage is also almost dead (as I understand it).
3. Okay, let's fast forward from 1983 back to 2010. We cross the road at the foot of the Potemkin Stairs and find ourselves on the territory of the sea terminal.
4. Inside this building, Yulka-Bublik built herself an Odessa nest, with hearts, sheaves of wheat and other surroundings. True, it was unsuccessful - it failed in the elections in Odessa, with a large lag behind the regionals.
5. We go up and walk along the overpass above the port railway station to the station building. An interesting detail: in Odessa itself, posters for Victory Day were made in many places in such a way as to avoid Soviet symbols in an authentic form (for example, inside the Order of the Patriotic War they painted the number 65 instead of a hammer and sickle). However, on the territory of departments (port, seaport, railway, communications, transport), posters about the Great Patriotic War were placed without any graphic substitutions.
6. We are approaching the station. Where in 1983 there was a large area for buses approaching the liners, it is now built up. Behind the station you can see a piece of the Odessa Hotel.
7. In front of the sea terminal, sometime during these years (Odessa residents will tell you more precisely) a really ugly monument was built, completely out of touch with the surrounding space and dissonant with the maritime theme of this territory.
8. The station building is interesting because its huge front glazing reflects different sectors of the surrounding territory from different points.
9. Reflection to the left.
10. Reflection to the center (the Staircase, the cable car, and even the Duke are visible).
11. Reflection to the right, into the port.
12. Now let's go into the station itself: open this door with reflections 
13. Inside the station it is deserted and quiet.
14. They even dragged some kind of shuttle inside the sea terminal.
15. Actually, we went to the second floor for a reason: the fact is that we saw a sign “Set meals for 35 hryvnia. We are waiting for you in the restaurant!”, and decided to look where it was. But there were no signs inside, and we walked on a whim - it would really be nice to have lunch for that amount, because we usually ate in central cafes, with beer and custom-made food, for about 100 hryvnia, but here it was 35.
16. We entered a huge draped banquet hall.
Nobody, silence... Not a single soul at all. Suddenly the waiter comes out:
- Do you have the set meals that are advertised?
- Yes.
- Is there?
- Eat. Sit down anywhere, I’ll bring you right now.
Well, we took a seat overlooking the port. The hall is pleasant, cool, air-conditioned.
17. And here is lunch at the sea terminal restaurant. Quite acceptable for a hearty meal. No frills, but ok. The compote is brought in the color of the tablecloths, everything is thought out.
18. Our check
19. Now let’s leave the sea terminal and proceed further along the “tongue”, past “Odessa”.
20. On the other side of the station there is a small museum. I wanted to take a couple of interesting documents there, but the young lady caretaker vigilantly screamed:
- No, no, you can’t remove documents! Only models and exhibits!
- Hm... Well, okay, if so.
21. And this is what the same place looked like 160 years ago, after the construction of the Staircase (it is in the center of the picture). There was no “tongue”; the stairs went straight down to the seashore.
22. Let's follow the "language".
23. Monument to the “Sailor’s Wife” (apparently seeing him off on his voyage with his son).
24. I liked the monument: it was sincere and on topic; in 1983 it didn’t exist yet. And the casting is beautiful, with an anchor.
25. The area at the end of the “tongue”.
26. View from here of the Odessa Hotel.
27. At the very tip of the “tongue” there is a yacht marina for the cool ones. Like ours on Krestovsky.
28. On the left is a pier for pleasure boats.
29. Near the yacht marina, on a piece of land, a temple was built. Apparently, recently, I don’t remember him being there at all.
30. View from the pleasure pier to the temple, yacht berth and the Odessa Hotel.
31. Immediately behind the temple, at the top there is a small exhibition of cannons and objects raised from the bottom of the bay...
32. ...as well as anchors. With an explanation of the origin of their shape and types, which I really liked. Informative.
33. We leave the language back to the coast line. Passenger pier (on the left in photo 2).
