Odessa is rich in luxurious buildings built in the XIX century, but few of them can compare with a real architectural masterpiece — the Palace of Abaza. It is located on Pushkinskaya Street, house number 9, at the corner of Deribasovskaya and Grecheskaya Streets.
The palace was built in 1856-1858 for the statesman N.S. Abaza. Its project belongs to architect L. Otton, who built several other beautiful buildings in Odessa, which now represent the brightest sights of Odessa and even Ukraine as a whole.
One of the characteristic tendencies of the palace architecture of Odessa in the middle of the XIX century was eclecticism. A peculiar synthesis of Baroque, Romanesque and Gothic forms, Empire, Rococo gave the city really unique, having a unique and memorable «face», palaces, estates and public buildings. And Abaza Palace was no exception.
Despite the fact that in its architecture the same eclecticism rules the ball, Abaza Palace is a harmonious combination of elegant forms and elements, appearing before the gaze of amazed contemplators in a single stylistic image inspired by the French Baroque, Rococo and Empire.
From the side of Greek Street one can see a distinctive feature of this two-storey building — there was an entrance to the courtyard, as part of the palace was rented out. The cut corner of the building is adorned with a bay window supported by a bracket — a gracefully made basket. The main entrance is adorned with a graceful openwork canopy made of the finest cast iron.
The plan of the Abaza Palace is very unusual because of the inherent curvilinear forms of the rooms. In the corner part of it there is an oval-shaped salon, in the neighborhood on both sides there are halls with rounded corners, which serve as transitions to the enfilades of other rooms — this arrangement of rooms is a masterful imitation of French architecture.
However, there is also a place for Odessa traditions here. The main building is one and a half times expanded, instead of one, it has two longitudinal walls. Because of this there is less light in the middle rooms, but this layout allowed to create a magnificent grand staircase in the lobby, carved from Carrara marble. The staircase has no supporting beams and therefore, together with the platforms, it is a very impressive hanging structure.
From the entrance hall, the staircase leads to the second floor of the building, where you can see the halls of astonishing splendor and luxury. Rich stucco decoration, carvings, bronze fittings, patterned parquet floors, exquisite plafonds and lush wall ornamentation. Many rooms are decorated in delicate silver-greenish tones, and the luxurious decoration in them has been preserved from the mid-19th century to the present day in almost pristine condition.
Amazing in its splendor, the external and internal decoration of the Palace of Abaza will be appreciated not only by connoisseurs of architectural subtleties, but also by lovers of beautiful and elegant forms, aristocratic luxury and good taste.
As for the fate of this palace, after the departure of its first owner from Odessa, its new owner became the head of the banker’s house Rafalovich. In 1890, the banker went bankrupt, then the Palace of Abaza passed into the status of city property, it was placed in the 4th men’s gymnasium. Nowadays, this landmark of Odessa has a higher purpose — in 1923 in the building of the palace was founded Museum of Western and Eastern Art, and now you can enjoy not only the beauty of the interiors, but also world-famous works of many outstanding artists.