Moldavanka

Moldavanka

Coordinates: 46°27′57″N 30°42′03″E / 46.465887°N 30.700951°E / 46.465887; 30.700951

The typical architecture of Moldavanka.

Moldavanka is a historical part of Odessa in the Odessa Oblast (province) of southern Ukraine, located jointly on Malinovskiy and Primorskiy city districts. Before 1820 a settlement just outside of Odessa which later engulfed it. Until the 20th century the neighborhood was considered a low-income/high-crime part of the town and was famous for its workers' shacks.

Contents

Historical overview

The city of Odessa was officially founded in 1794 as an Imperial Russian naval fortress on the ruins of a former Ottoman fortress named Khadjibey (or Kotsyubiiv). By January 1795, the new name was mentioned for the first time in official correspondence.

However, adjacent to the new official locality, a certain Moldovan colony had already existed, which by the end of 18th century was an independent settlement known under the name of Moldavanka. Legend has it that the settlement predates Odessa by about thirty years and asserts that the locality was founded by Romanians who came to build the fortress of Yeni Dunia for the Ottomans and eventually settled in the area in the late 1760s, right next to the settlement of Khadjibey (since 1795 Odessa proper), on what later became the Primorskii Boulevard.[1]

The Romanians owned relatively small plots on which they built village style houses and cultivated vineyards and gardens. What was to become Mikhailiv Square was the center of this settlement and the site of its first Orthodox church, the Church of the Dormition, built in 1821 close to the sea shore, as well as of a cemetery. Nearby were the military barracks and the country houses (dacha) of the city's wealthy residents, including that of the Duc de Richelieu, appointed by Czar Alexande I as Governor of Odessa in 1803. In the period from 1795 to 1814 the population of Odessa had increased 15 times and reached almost 20 thousand people. Colonists of various ethnicities settled mainly in the area of former Romanian colony, outside of the official boundaries, and as a consequence, in the first third of the 19th century, Moldavanka emerged as the dominant settlement. After planning by the official architects who designed buildings in Odessa's central district, such as the Italians Franz Karlowicz Boffo and Giovanni Torichelli, Moldovanka was included in the general city plan, though the original grid-like plan of Moldovankan streets, lanes and squares remained unchanged.[1]

                         •     •     •
I will not tell you for the whole Odessa,
All of Odessa is very big,
But Moldovanka and Peresyp
Just adore Kostya the sailor.

M.Bernes, "Scows Full of Mullet"
  • It looked like an industrial backyard of Odessa, where the plants and factories were located. The residents of this neighborhood were mostly the people who worked in those factories.
  • Even in nowadays, Moldavanka's setting is mostly industrial. However, since some of the plants and factories are out of business today, they are demolished and high-rise living quarters and business centers take their places.

Prior to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Moldavanka was the center of the city's Orthodox Jewish quarter. It is also the setting of the stories in The Odessa Tales and the play Sunset, both by Isaak Babel. The neighborhood also is mentioned by the Russian jazz song containing the slight local accent and performed by Mark Bernes "Chalands, that filled with mugil". (example available at youtube, footage of Dva boitsa film (Two Warriors))

Location

Moldavanka is located where the route edit] See also

  • Mishka Yaponchik, one of the most notorious (if not the most notorious) residents of the Moldavanka's Jewish Quarter.
  • Benya Krik

References

  1. ^ a b Richardson, p.110

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Smuglyanka Moldavanka — Smouglianka Moldavanka (en russe Смуглянка молдаванка) est une chanson russe. On la retrouve au générique de В бой идут одни «старики» (que l on peut traduire par Seuls les vétérans vont au combat ). Episode 1 [1] Episode 2 [2] Episode 3 [3]… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Odessa — For other uses, see Odessa (disambiguation). Odesa (Одеса) Odessa (Одесса) Potemkin Stairs …   Wikipedia

  • Mishka Yaponchik — Yaponchik redirects here. For other uses, see Yaponchik (disambiguation). Moisei Wolfovich Vinnitskiy Born October 30, 1881(1881 10 30) Odessa, Russian Empire Died July 29, 1919(1919 07 29 …   Wikipedia

  • Isaac Babel — Infobox Writer name = Isaac Babel imagesize = 150px caption = pseudonym = birthdate = OldStyleDate|13 July|1894|1 July birthplace = Odessa, Russian Empire deathdate = death date|1940|1|27|mf=y (aged 45) deathplace = Butyrka prison, Moscow, USSR… …   Wikipedia

  • Russian Mafia — (Русская мафия, Russkaya Mafiya ), Red Mob (Красная мафия, Krasnaya Mafiya ) or Bratva ( Братва ; slang for brotherhood ) or Mafya or Mafiya, is a name given to a broad group of organized crime groups from the former Soviet Union (FSU)… …   Wikipedia

  • The Odessa Tales —   Book cover Author(s) Isaac Babel …   Wikipedia

  • Benya Krik — ( ru. Беня Крик) is a fictional Russian gangster of Jewish descent, whose gang of thugs is the main subject of Isaak Babel s collection of short stories The Odessa Tales . He also plays a prominent role in Babel s play Sunset.Krik, who is also… …   Wikipedia

  • Elizabeth Gilels — Infobox musical artist Name = Elizabeth Gilels Background = non vocal instrumentalist Birth name = Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Gilels Born = September 30 1919 flagicon|USSR Odessa, Ukraine, USSR Died = March 13 2008 (age 88) flagicon|Russia Moscow,… …   Wikipedia

  • Sunset (play) — The play Sunset was written by Isaac Babel in 1926 and based on his Odessa Tales. PlotThe play is sent in Moldavanka, Odessa s Jewish Quarter in 1913. The plot revolves around the volatile relationship between neighborhood mob boss Benya Krik and …   Wikipedia

  • Louise Berger — was an Latvian anarchist, a member of the Anarchist Red Cross and editor of Emma Goldman s Mother Earth Bulletin in New York. Berger became well known outside anarchist circles in 1914 after a premature bomb explosion at her New York City… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”