Ekaterinenskaya Square

Ekaterinenskaya Square or Catherine`s Square is one of the most spectacular areas of the city of Odessa. All eight buildings that surround the square are architectural landmarks and monuments. The current area was changed several times its appearance. Initially, there was laid a Church of St. Catherine, which was to symbolize the protection of the Empress. But when the Empress died, the work on the construction of the church, as indeed the whole of the city, has been suspended. And later, the unfinished church was demolished. In the center there was a square with a fountain. Later the fountain was moved to the City Garden, where it is located till now.

On the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the city, it was decided to erect a monument to the Catherine the Great on the square, and in May 1900 a memorial was unveiled. On a high pedestal there is a majestic bronze statue of Catherine II. From four sides there are figures of Catherine`s companions - Prince Potemkin, Count Platon Zubov, Colonel de Volan, Admiral de Ribas. The glorious monument to the founders of Odessa looked very spectacular; especially the majestic was the Empress figure.

After the revolution, the new government decided to remove the monument. Benoit and Gorkiy made efforts and convinced that the monument was a high artistic value, it was not destroyed, and sent to the Natural History Museum. In 1921, at the Catherine`s Square there was a monument to Karl Marx. But it was not there for a long time for various reasons. In 1965, in its place there was installed another monument to sailors of Potemkin, in honor of the memory of the uprising on the battleship "Potemkin". And in July 2007, the Odessa City Council has been determined to restore the monument to Catherine II on that place again. As a result in the center of the square there is a beautiful monument to Catherine the Great and her companions. A monument to Potemkin was moved to the Tamozhennaya Square(Customs Square) .
Catherine`s Square is located next to the Opera House, Primorskiy Boulevard, Potemkin Stairs, Seaport buildings, Deribasovskaya street. The most prestigious hotels, restaurants, cafes, boutiques are situated there.