Odessa is the pearl of the Black Sea. St. Petersburg is the pearl of the Neva. At first glance, these cities are very different, but this is only at first glance. In this article I will try to find out what these two magnificent cities were called on old maps, assuming that Peter was not built by Peter, but Odessa-Richelieu, what is in common between them, and what inconsistencies there are in the official version of the founding of Odessa (About Peter has already been written lots of). So, let's begin.
The remarkable Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin left impressions of Odessa and St. Petersburg in his works. In one case it is an additional chapter to his famous "Eugene Onegin", in the other - the poem "The Bronze Horseman". This is what the addition to Onegin sounds like:
I lived then in dusty Odessa: The skies are clear there for a long time, There is busy bargaining, abundant; There, everything breathes Europe, blows, Everything shines with the south and is dazzling with a variety of living. The language of Italy is golden It sounds cheerful down the street, Where a proud Slav, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, an Armenian walks, Both a Greek and a heavy Moldovan, And a son of the Egyptian land, A retired corsair, Morale. And here is how Alexander Sergeevich describes the trip to the opera: But the blue evening is getting dark, It's time for us to go to the opera as soon as possible: There is a delightful Rossini, Europe's darling - Orpheus. Not heeding the harsh criticism, He is eternally the same, eternally new, He pours sounds - they boil, They flow, they burn, Like young kisses, Everything is in bliss, in a flame of love, Like a hissing jet and golden spray … But, gentlemen,Is it allowed to equal Do-re-mi-sol with wine? And only there are charms? And what about the search lorgnette? Backstage dates? And prima donna? and ballet? And the bed, where, shining with beauty, Young Negotsian, Selfish and languid, Surrounded by a crowd of slaves? She hears and does not heed And cavatina, and pleas, And a joke with flattery in half … And her husband - in the corner behind her, slumbering, Waking up the handicap will scream, Yawn and - snore again Final thunders; the hall is empty; Rustling, the siding hurries; The crowd ran to the square With the glitter of lanterns and stars, The Sons of Ausonia happy Slightly sing a playful tune, Unwittingly hardening It, And we roar with recitative. But it's too late. Odessa is sleeping quietly; And breathless and warm Silent night. The moon has risen, A transparent light curtain Envelopes the sky. Everything is silent; Only the Black Sea makes a noise … And then I came across a brochure dedicated to the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater. There after these verses it is written,I quote: “It does not matter that the very theater that Pushkin recalled in his Mikhailov exile has long been gone. The poet did not paint the building. He recreated the atmosphere of a theatrical festival.”That's it. It turns out that Pushkin was a great dreamer and described what he did not see? Was he also recorded as an inventor, as well as Piranesi and Hubert? As we know, the poet spent 13 months in Odessa - from July 3, 1823 to July 31, 1824. Here he wrote two and a half chapters of Eugene Onegin, completed the Fountain of Bakhchisarai and much more. And here is the description of the first city theater (I note - it is not called "operatic" anywhere): The building of the first city theater was built according to the design of the Italian Francesco Frapolli, and the changes in the plan were made by the Frenchman Tom de Tomon.who erected many buildings in the then capital of the Russian Empire - St. Petersburg. The grand opening of the theater took place on February 10, 1810. It was a snow-white structure like an ancient temple, facing the port. The hall had 800 seats (at that time 12.5 thousand people lived in the city). On three tiers of boxes, 44 armchairs were installed, behind which there was a large semicircular space, from where about 700 more spectators could enjoy the performance while standing, as in old Italian theaters. From memoirs: “The hall of the old theater was three-tiered, with seventeen boxes, and the gallery was under the very ceiling, but so low that the audience almost touched it with their heads. There was no chandelier, it was hung later. The hall was illuminated by kenkets, that is, five-candle candelabra attached to the outer walls of the boxes. The candles were greasy and wax. The stage was lit by large oil lamps. There was no lighting at all on the gallery, as a result of which the light of the hall and stage seemed to us, sitting on the gallery, simply dazzling. The theater had its own special, specific smell from the soot of candles and ladies' perfume”. The building of the first city theater was designed by the Italian Francesco Frapolli, and the changes to the plan were made by the Frenchman Tom de Thomon, who erected many buildings in the then capital of the Russian Empire - St. Petersburg. The grand opening of the theater took place on February 10, 1810. It was a snow-white structure like an ancient temple, facing the port. The hall had 800 seats (at that time 12.5 thousand people lived in the city). On three tiers of boxes, 44 chairs were installed, behind which there was a large semicircular space,from where about 700 more spectators could enjoy the performance while standing, as in old Italian theaters.
And after a fire in 1873, in which the theater burned to the ground, completely, and there could be no question of any restoration, a certain F. Felmer (Ferdinand) and G. Helmer (Hermann) were instructed to draft a new theater project (entertaining names, is not it). Of course, the chief architect of Odessa with a typical Russian surname Bernardazzi, and the architects Dmitrenko and Gonsiorovsky, according to whose designs most of the buildings in Odessa were built, put a lot of effort into the construction of the new building. Tradition says that F. Fellner, who arrived in Odessa for the opening ceremony, exclaimed: "This is the best theater in the world!" This is how Mr. Felmer had megalomania.
This is what the opera house looks like today, built in the 19th century for some reason in a typical baroque style:
Promotional video:
It seems to me, or was the old theater in a different place than the current opera house? If you look closely at the photos, you can see that a long house has disappeared on the right, which can be clearly seen in the photograph of the old theater, and the area is not the same … Maybe there was already an opera house, but it was not yet an opera house? And wasn't it a theater at all?
By the way, the opera house in Dresden, built in 1841 according to the project of whom do you think? No wrong, not Fellner, but Gottfried Semper. Plagiarize, however, Mr. Fellner (by the way, even the sculptures on top of the stoop. This is not good).
To see that Odessa is an ancient city, along with St. Petersburg, I opened old maps (you can download them here) and was surprised to find that on the site of modern Odessa there is … the city of Ochakov, and then only the largest cities were designated on those maps, which were part of the Great Tartary. And the current city of Ochakov is located 60 kilometers east of Odessa. Here is the map:
I highlighted the key cities that have retained their names to this day and are on almost all old maps. And now - attention to the screen.
The first map dates back to 1550, the last - 1665. The list goes on for a very long time. Until about 1770, this city is on almost every map. And the top of the collection is the city of Odessa on the 17th century map.
Ordessus … And there is one more - Ordesus (a little higher), which, most likely, suggests that this is the designation of the same type of cities, and not the name of a specific city.
As you can see from the maps, the city of Ochakov is located exactly on the site of present-day Odessa, Kiliya goes to the south, then Belgorod (now Belgorod - Dnestrovsky) and above it is Ochakov. Here's what Wikipedia says about modern Ochakov:
Back in the XIV century, on the site of modern Ochakov, the Genoese colonists built the fortress Lerich. The Genoese also founded their trade center and port here.
Since the situation in the region was unsettled due to the constant raids of the Crimean Tatars, the Genoese from Leric sought protection from the rulers of the principality of Moldova, who were gaining more and more power in Europe. The renovated Ochakov was founded in 1492 by the Crimean Khan Mengli Girey, on the site of the Lithuanian fortress Dashev, which was founded in 1415, and was originally called Kara-Kermen (Black Fortress).
In 1737, the army of the Russian Empire laid siege to Ochakov, considering it as the main outpost on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Ochakov was taken by Field Marshal Christopher Minich, but a year later he was abandoned and returned to Turkey.
The second siege of Ochakov took place in 1788 and was sung in Derzhavin's ode. By that time, the city's garrison numbered 20 thousand soldiers. The fortress was defended by 300 cannons. In the western suburbs, the Gassan Pasha castle (Battery Cape) was located.
It is interesting why under the "Genoese" and under the Turks the fortress was called with a typical Russian name - Ochakov. Wikipedia, however, informs us that the Turks called this fortress "Özi" or "Achi - kale", which translated from Turkish means achi - corner, kale - fortress.
They do not say something very much, hiding behind the "Russian - Turkish" wars, although on the old maps of the 16th, 17th and even 18th centuries there is nowhere an indication that this land was behind the Turks. After about 1700, Europe finally ceases to be Tartary, the names of cities change on the maps, and the most interesting thing is that I noticed (this is not my discovery, but I will emphasize) that the Caspian Sea is changing its shape. For example, here's what it looks like before about 1700:
And here's how after (the form we are used to):
And personally, I wondered - how did the cartographers manage to figure out that the huge sea changed shape? There were no aircraft in the 18th century, and even with the tools with which outstanding cartographers drew maps that almost coincide with Google maps … But this is a completely different story.
And here is how Petersburg was depicted on strange maps. If it was built before Peter, then it should be marked on all maps of that time … And indeed - in the place where Peter now stands, the city of Oreshek is located. Here's a modern map:
Just like the previous time, I marked the central cities.
Gradually Oreshek becomes Notburg (Notteburg, Notburg) and in 1702 it completely disappears from all maps, and in this place the majestic Peter grows up in record time. By the way, in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, if you look at the Google map, you can see the remnants of perfectly straight lined streets, some of the "remains" of the city are now small villages and settlements with perfectly flat streets. And here's another interesting thing:
In memory of the deeds of bygone days, there are the villages of nut 1, 2 and 3, right next to Lake Ladoga.
Here is the version about Oreshek and Notburg after the conquest of these lands by Peter:
Fortress Oreshek (in Russian chronicles the city of Orekhov; Swedish Nöteborg -Noteburg) is an ancient Russian fortress on Orekhovy Island at the source of the Neva River, opposite the town of Shlisselburg in the Leningrad Region. Founded in 1323, from 1612 to 1702 belonged to the Swedes.
During the Northern War, the Russian army under the command of Boris Sheremetev laid siege to the fortress on September 27, 1702. On October 11, after a long bombardment, Russian troops launched an assault that lasted 13 hours and won. Peter I personally took part in the siege as a bombardier-captain. "It is true that this nut was extremely cruel, however, thank God, it was happily gnawed … Our artillery miraculously corrected its work," Peter I wrote to the clerk of the Duma Andrei Vinius. In honor of this event, a medal was cast with the inscription: "Was with the enemy for 90 years." Then the fortress was renamed into Shlisselburg - "key-city".
With the construction of Kronstadt in 1703, the fortress lost its military significance and was transformed into a political prison.
Here is the modern look of this fortress:
A logical question arises: would a small island be put on maps on a par with Constantinople, Rome, Athens, Moscow, Veliky Novgorod, Vienna, Prague, Kiev and many other large cities that have survived to our time (and very few have survived, mainly on places of large cities, which are shown on the maps and have not reached us, ideally straight lines - the layout of streets, quarters, squares … but without buildings, cathedrals, bridges, fortifications …
Like St. Petersburg, Odessa was built according to the canons of the "antique" city: a colonnade on almost every building, characteristic elements of architecture (more in the next article), a lot of statues in almost every opening - supposedly a distinctive feature of the Baroque and much more. If you compare these two seemingly dissimilar cities, you get an interesting picture. This is Odessa:
And this is Peter:
The complete pattern looks like this:
Cathedrals:
Kazan Peter:
And the Odessa Spaso - Transfiguration Cathedral:
By layout:
Lions and griffins of St. Petersburg and Odessa. Guess where what:
Odessa:
Here is the coat of arms of Ukraine in St. Petersburg:
And finally - why the current city of Odessa was nicknamed Ochakov, I cannot say for sure, but about Peter - Nut - I have one suggestion …
Peter got a tough nut to crack … Just like in the Nutcracker.
I wish you all health and a sober mind)
