Excavations have resumed in downtown Odessa: the first discovery has already been made

Archaeologists led by Andriy Krasnozhon, rector of the Ushynsky South Ukrainian Pedagogical University, have resumed excavations on Primorsky Boulevard in downtown Odesa.

According to the rector, the excavations are part of the search for the location of the Khadzhibey Fortress, which archaeologists have been conducting every summer for several years in a row. 

While removing the concrete pavement—which will be restored once the excavations are complete—the team found a toy truck embedded in the concrete. Obviously, it wasn’t from the Khadzhibey period.

“In archaeology, there are no ‘non-cultural’ layers. They are all cultural. Even the concrete of the boulevard’s pavement,” joked Andriy Krasnozhon. 

Preliminary surveys for the new excavations began as early as November 2025. Prior to that, in October, work was completed to restore the pavement at the excavation site in central Odesa near the Richelieu monument, where archaeologists had discovered theremains of a wall in the summer of 2025.  

At that time, Andriy Krasnozhon expressed doubts that the fortress had been built by the Ottomans, since in 1573 the empire had sent a representativeto Khadzhibeyto oversee the fortress’s restoration. This implies that a fortress already existed there but had fallen into disrepair.

At the same time, Andriy Krasnozhon noted that he even doubts the fortress was founded in the 15th century—when the first written mention of the port and fortress appeared—since the Polish historian Jan Długosz indicates that the grain which the Polish King Władysław allocated to the envoys to Constantinople as aid was to be received at the royal port of Kochubiyiv.

Therefore, the scholar believes that Hadzhibey could have been builtby the Genoese, who actively traded with the Ulus of Jochi, better known in Ukrainian historiography as the Golden Horde. The Genoese built fortresses in the Black Sea region and Crimea for trade purposes. This theory is indirectly supported by the discovery of pottery dating from the first half of the 14th century.   

In late July 2025,archaeologists conducting excavations on Primorsky Boulevard in central Odesa cross-referenced their findings with archival documents and concluded that they had identified the location of Hadzhibey Castle.

Traces of dismantled walls and destruction have been documented in all of thisseason’s excavations. According to the scholar, the corner joint where two walls of the battery met—which had been completely dismantled down to the foundations—is particularly telling in this regard.

Кирило Бойко