Criminal/Gangster Odessa tour (Moldavanka)
We invite you to a fascinating tour – Criminal Odessa. You will hear stories about famous bandits and frauds of the century, you will see Mishka Yaponchik’s patio, Gotsman’s house, Prison Castle, etc. The tour can be either a pedestrian or a car-pedestrian. There is a variant to conduct a tour in the central part of Odessa and / or in the Moldavanka region.
Duration – 2,5-3 hours.
Map of Moldavanka
OTHER INTERESTING PLACES ON MOLDAVANKA
To feel the spirit of Odessa in full, we invite you to the most popular excursion – Crime Odessa. So yes, Odessa is not only a multinational cosmopolitan city with sparkling humor and luxurious architecture. Reputedly Odessa is also famous for its “criminal talent” …
Since the founding of the city-port and the right to free trade, Odessa was considered to be a sort of freemen, where people of different classes, wealth and nationalities were striving for a happy life. Odessa was developing rapidly, transforming into a large trading port. However, as you know, our people are resourceful. Therefore, it is not surprising that illegal goods became famous here, various gangs appeared and smuggling originated.
So, the most criminal area at the time was the notorious Moldavanka. At that time it was the outskirts of the city where small traders, workers and draymen settled. A future leader of Odessa bandits – Mishka Yaponchik, was born among the simple poor folk in one of the courtyards of the Moldavanka. Dreaming to conquer all of Odessa, Mishka gained fame in the criminal world and became the king of raiders smugglers. They used to make legends and compose songs about him. If you knew how many books and movies were made about Misha Yaponchik!
Odessa attracted the attention of many swindlers and thieves. Sonka the Golden Hand was a famous adventurer of the late XIX century. Her criminal talent fraudsters were rumored even in Europe. Sonya founded a secret thieves academy in Odessa and allocated her own funds for its maintenance. During the tour, we will show you where this academy was located and where Sonya lived.
The brightest Odessa adventurer of all time is the prototype of Ostap Bender – Osip Shore. We know about his “track record” of brilliant frauds from the stories of “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf” by I. Ilf and E. Petrov. However, locals of Odessa know firsthand about the adventures of the great fraudster Osip Shore and can tell interesting incidents from his life.
Gangster Odessa was “glorified” not only in the stories, but also in the movies, such as the “Green van”, “Liquidation”, “Three days in Odessa”, “Dangerous tour”, “Deja vu”, etc. Also a lot of songs, driven far outside the country were devoted to it. Among them: “Murka”, “On the sea sand”, “I’m from Odessa, hello!”, “On Moldavanka”, “Today Sonia is celebrating barthday”, “Hop-stop” and others that have replenished the collection of songs about Odessa.
The “Criminal Odessa” excursion (“Gangster Odessa”, “Moldavanka”) has always been and remains among the most visited and fascinating ones. During the tour, we will walk along Moldavanka, take a look into the courtyards of famous Odessa criminals, visit the “raspberry”, as well as walk along Myasoyedovskaya, Kolontayevskaya and Malaya Arnautskaya streets, where they used to fabricate fakes and sell the stolen goods. You will hear the secrets and legends of the thieves’ world and entertaining stories about sensational scams. You will find out how contraband came up in Odessa, who created the “raider code” or who Yasha Blumkin, Grisha Kotovsky, Karabas and David Kurlyand are. Excursion duration is 2-3 hours.
In addition, we offer to visit the Smuggling Museum or to go to the old quarries of the Moldavanka.
Are you intrigued? Then join us! Call us or leave your application here.
Check out our guides here.
“Secrets of underground Odessa” Museum is located in the catacombs on Moldavanka. These are entire labyrinths of underground passages, which previously served as quarries. Today, the length of the Odessa catacombs is about 3 thousand km. During your visit to the museum, you will learn about the stone quarries from the time of their creation, will hear fascinating stories, ranging from the geological structure of the soils near Odessa and ending with tales about gangster catacombs. Make sure you have warm clothes and sports shoes on. The temperature in the caves is about 14 C.
Quarries of Moldavanka are spread out in blocks of Razumovska Str., Komitetska str., Babel Str., Melnytska street and Balkivska. They are dated with 1850-1880 and are located at a depth of 25 m. At some point, shells deposits were mined here. In wartime the catacombs served as a bunker and bomb shelter. On this site, there are approximately 30 quarries, which make up a single underground labyrinth. Odessa catacombs make one of the main attractions of the city and a must visit place for all guests of Odessa. Today, one of the sites became the “The Catacombs of Odessa” Museum-Reserve (161 Balkivska Street). Don’t forget to grab warm clothing and comfortable shoes.
Starokonka is the oldest Odessa market, located on Moldavanka (Raskidailivska street). It ppeared in 1833, in the city outskirts of those days and was called “the cattle market,” which sold cattle, horses and other domestic animals. When in the 1850s, a new market for the sale of livestock appeared next to the current Privoz, the old one was called Starokonny or Starokonka. Gradually, the market was built up and started selling bread, vegetables and various products. However, first of all, Starokonka was known as a bird market, where you could buy pets. In the 1930s, a flea market appeared nearby. Today the Starokonny market is one of the most authentic sights of Odessa. Here you will find rare books, antiques, coins, housewares and many interesting things.
Privoz is the food market, located near the Odessa railway station. It’s a hallmark of the city and the “must visit” place (Pryvozna str.). It appeared in 1827, when a large bazaar, where they sold imported goods, was opened. Hence the name of the market – Pryvoz. In 1913, the Fruit Passage was erected on the territory of the market, the buildings of which today are an architectural monument. In the 1990s, a major reconstruction was carried out – new pavilions were built. In 2007, shops were opened and were called “New Pryvoz”. Privoz is an authentic place. Here you can buy anything you want. Just do not forget to bargain.
The Zoo was opened in the 1930s (Novoshchepny Ryad St., 25). It was founded as early, as in 1922. There was supposed to be a zoological park on Primorsky Boulevard but the project was suspended. Thanks to the efforts of G. Beizert, who in 1933 became the head of the department of the 4th circus menagerie, located in the city garden (later on in Privoz), in the late 1930s the zoo was opened in the Ilyich park. Today, the Odessa Zoo is still near the famous market “Privoz”. Since 1992, the zoo is a natural reserve fund of Ukraine, as well as a research and cultural and educational institution.
The Gotsman House is a courtyard on Moldavanka, where they were shooting the popular “Liquidation” movie (st. Kolontaevskaya, 21). According to the script, the main character of the television series David Gotsman and his neighbors Emmanuel Gershevich and Madame Shmuklis lived here. After the release of the film, this courtyard, filled with real Odessa flavor, became one of the attractions of the city.
The prison castle was erected in 1894 and is a monument of architecture (Lyustdorfska road, 11). It is a monumental building of red brick, resembling a majestic medieval castle. Originally it consisted of a building for prisoners, a forge, a bath and a kitchen. It also included a hospital and a church. Throughout its history, it has been hosting such prisoners, as the Bulgarian anarchist Todorov, the hero of the civil war Grigori Kotovsky, the legend of the criminal world Mishka Yaponchik, and Leiba Bronstein known as Leo Trotsky. Today, the Odessa remand prison is located here.
Mala Arnautska is a street located in the central part of Odessa on Moldavanka. It appeared at the beginning of the XIX century and got its name from Arnautska settlement – a soldier’s settlement, which consisted mainly of arnauts. Arnauts were Orthodox Albanians who fled Islamism and settled here. Throughout history, the street was repeatedly renamed and only in the 1990s it obtained its historical name back. The founder of the Jewish Legion Jabotinsky, the writer Ravnitsky, the poet Bialik, and the prototype of Ostap Bender – Ostap Shore used to live here. It was believed that in Mala Arnautska they fabricate fakes, mint fake coins and buy stolen goods. The notorious adventurer Ostap Bender said in the novel “The Twelve Chairs” by Ilf and Petrov: “All the contraband is made in Odessa on Malaya Arnautskaya”. Guest houses of the XIX century, the building of a Jewish educational institution and the former “Chante clair” cinema have survived to this day. 111, Mala Arnautska street today housees the Holocaust Memorial Museum to the victims of fascism.
The Preobrazhensky Park was opened in the 1930s in place of the oldest necropolis of Odessa. The first city cemetery was founded along with founding of the city in the XVIII century. General Sabaneev, navigator Boltin, Count Stroganov and many prominent personalities were buried here. In the cemetery, there were crypts of the Count families of Tolstoy and Potocki. In the 1920s, the necropolis began to get neglected. The Soviet authorities decided to dismantle the gravestones and to make room for other purposes. So, in 1937, the Ilyich park and the zoo were created in the territory of the old city cemetery. Only in the 1990s, it was decided to turn the park into a memorial commemorating those who were buried at this place. In 2005, the park was renamed into Preobrazhensky. Today, the park is being reconstructed, after which the “Atonement of Guilt” memorial will be opened here, as well as a sculpture park of Odessa.
The House of Isaac Babel is located on the Richelieu, 17 street, where at the world’s famous writer used to live. Babel was born on Moldavanka in a Jewish family of a merchant. The family of the future writer rented accommodation in apartment No 10. The building itself was erected at the end of the XIX century and was famous as an apartment house for Reich. On the facade of the house where Isaac Babel lived in 1905-1924, a memorial plaque was placed. In 2011, on the corner of Richelieu and Zhukovsky street a monument to an outstanding writer was installed.
Sonya the Golden Hand House is located in building number 12 on Voznesensky Lane (Moldavanka), where according to the legends Sofia Bluvshteyn lived. She was a famous thief and an adventurer from the end of the 19th century, nicknamed Sonya the Golden Hand. Having received the fame of a talented fraudster, Sonka hunted not only in Odessa, but throughout Europe. Legends have and novels have been written about her criminal talent, as well as films movies have been filmed. Thus, in 2007 the eponymous series about the life of a swindler, the Queen of the Thieves’ World, was released.
Mishka Yaponchik’s patio is the house where the famous king of Odessa thugs (Moishe the Vinnitskiy, nicknamed Mishka Yaponchik) lived (B. Khmelnitsky st., 23). The future leader of smuggling raiders was born in Moldavanka into a poor Jewish family. He didn’t want to take over the craft of his father and dreamed of conquering the whole of Odessa. Mishka Yaponchik was really an extraordinary person. Songs and books were written about him, and movies were filmed. Utyosov and Coralli wrote about him in their memoirs. Yaponchik became the prototype of the Beni Creek character in the “Odessa Stories” by Babel. In 2011, the television series “The Life and Adventures of Mishka Yaponchik” saw the world. Until now, Odessans remember the legendary Mishka, who left a mark in the history of the city. The “Gangster Odessa” Excursion will be an exciting adventure to places of criminal authorities.
Jewish Hospital was opened in 1829 at the expense of the Jewish community (Myasoedovskaya str., 32). It was founded in 1800 and was located in rented premises. In 1829, the clinic was transferred to Moldavanka, where the Jewish community bought a mansion and opened a 45-bed hospital there. Thanks to donations, the Jewish hospital expanded, the corps was completed, and new departments were opened. The mostly used to accept Jewish patients didn’t refuse to help Christians too. It was believed that the Jewish hospital had a high level of doctors’ qualifications. Prominent physicians, such as Professor Jacob Zilberberg, Dr. Isaac Geshelin, Professor Jacob Rosenblat used to work here. Their contribution to the development of medicine is invaluable. Today, just like 200 years ago, it is still a hospital – the city Clinical Hospital №1.
Myasoidivska is one of the central and most famous streets of Moldavanka. It originated in 1841 and takes its name from the tradesman and the owner of the brewery Dementiy Myasoedov, whose estate was located at this place. In 1829 a hospital was opened by the Jewish community, which later became the main local object. In 1866, the section of the street was renamed into the Jewish-Hospital street, and later – to Gospitalniy lane. In 1928 the street was named after the Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem, who lived on Myasoidivska Street. In the 1990s, the street adopted its historical name. The legendary street was mentioned more than once in stories, with the “Myasoidivska, My Street” song being known not only in Odessa.