Opera House

The Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is the oldest opera house in Ukraine. It is located in the city of Odesa (Odesa Oblast) and is classified as a Cultural Building. Although this theatre is already over 130 years old, it is the second structure in the city's history. The first opera house opened in 1810 and served as a cultural centre. Unfortunately, 63 years later, the first building burned down on New Year's Eve.

The current building was erected in 1887 under the supervision of the renowned Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, with local works managed by Oleksandr Bernardazzi. The exterior architecture of the building is executed in the Viennese Baroque style, while the interior of the auditorium is designed in the Late French Rococo style. The theatre is famous for its unique horseshoe-shaped hall, which seats 1,635 and boasts exceptional acoustics, allowing even a whisper from the stage to be heard in any corner of the room. The stage area covers 500 square meters.

Throughout its history, the theatre's stage has hosted performances of works by composers such as Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff, and featured world-famous singers, including Enrico Caruso and Fyodor Chaliapin. Functionally, the theatre is a centre for opera and ballet arts, regularly hosting symphonic and organ concerts, and serving as a "talent forge" thanks to its children's ballet school.

The building has 3 above-ground floors, but a unique feature is the 5 floors of technical premises located underground. Due to ground subsidence, the structure has been repeatedly restored, most recently in 2007. In the same year, the theatre was granted the status of "National" by presidential decree. The Odesa Opera is considered one of the most beautiful in the world, a fact confirmed by its inclusion in the top 17 most interesting landmarks in Eastern Europe by Forbes magazine in 2008.