26 September 2025
(PHOTO COLLAGE: Intent)
The Odesa municipality has published a draft of a new city charter, which proposes to approve the song "The Land of the Black Sea" with lyrics by Semen Kirsanov and music by Modest Tabachnikov (translated into Ukrainian by Serhiy Osoka) as the city's anthem.
According to the press service of the municipality, the next step is to submit the prepared document to the Odesa City Council for consideration.
Also, the mention of Odesa's place in the Russian Empire and the feat of the Russian military in the city's history was removed from the charter. Instead, a reference was added to the fact that the traditions of urban planning within the boundaries of modern Odesa date back to antiquity. Cartographic documents from the early fourteenth century (1311) and archaeological materials indicate the existence of a Ginestra factory (trading post) on the shores of the modern Gulf of Odesa, and the first written mention of the port (Kochubiyiv, Kachibey, Hadzhibey) is dated May 19, 1415.
I saw that city more than once in my dreams,
Playful, salty, sparkling,
The edge of the Black Sea opened up to me
In the blooming acacia trees, the city
The edge of the Black Sea!
The sea in which I swam and drowned,
The shore, clear and calm.
The air I breathed in as a child,
I still can't get drunk.
The land of the Black Sea!
I will never forget the boulevard and the lighthouse,
the lights of the steamers like candles,
and the bench where we, my beloved,
looked into each other's eyes for the first time -
The land of the Black Sea!
The land where my Odessite friend
leaned against, scorched by battle.
In sorrow, the Motherland stands over him,
and the city is called a hero -
The land of the Black Sea!
Life is always beautiful,
Playful, salty, sparkling.
And every spring we come back here,
To Odesa, to the sunny city.
The land of the Black Sea!
The draft charter provides for the following city holidays and memorial dates to be celebrated annually:
Other anniversaries and memorable dates related to the history and development of the city may be celebrated in Odesa.
In accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the Charter determines the city symbols, city holidays and memorable dates, honors and awards of the territorial community, the basic principles of administrative-territorial division of the city, as well as the city development, the system of local self-government in Odesa and the principles of interaction between its elements, forms and procedures for direct participation of members of the territorial community, civil society institutions in the implementation of local self-government, the principles of preservation of cultural heritage and promotion of socio-cultural development of cities
Кирило Бойко
July 16, 2026
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