Special Report: Odessa

Southern California color spotter Alena Nicholas sends these images from Odessa a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea.

Odessa is the third-most populous city in the Ukraine and one of the most visited in Eastern Europe.

Alena’s images show a bit of the fall color that fills its parks, the city center and Black Sea area. The city’s innocence, playfulness and old-fashioned character is evident in her photos.

Odessa has been at the crossroads of conflicts throughout its existence. Originally a Greek city, it then became Tartar, then Ottoman, then Russian and Soviet, before being a self-governing nation and friend of the United States.

Several California cities have sister city or agreement relationships with Ukrainian cities: Sebastopol with Chyhyryn, Sonoma and Santa Rosa with Cherkassy, Davis with Uman and Santa Barbara with Yalta.

Often occupied and desired for its warm-water seaport, Odessa is called the “Pearl of the Black Sea.”

Odessa’s architecture reflects its diverse governance, though was heavily influenced by French and Italian neo-classical, art nouveau and renaissance styles during the Czarist period. That’s evident in Alena’s pictures of the city park and street scenes.

In autumn, Ukraine is beautiful to behold, as 52 percent of its trees are deciduous, including birch, aspen, maple, elm, acacia and ash. As evidenced above, Odessa loves trees and culture, with landmark plane trees shading violinists and downtown shoppers.

Odessa is the first European city to be featured by a Special Report on CaliforniaFallColor.com. When you travel to colorful fall destinations, send photos and we’ll report what you’ve seen.