How old is Odessa? Officially: 225. Although, this is not a statement, but rather an assumption. The thing is that there is evidence that says that there are more than 600 tons of Odessa. So how old is Odessa: 225 or 600? I will try to consider this issue from different angles in order to draw certain conclusions.
How old is Odessa? Is there a clear answer?
If you delve into the study of this issue in detail, then it becomes clear that nothing is clear. People want specifics. They need to be told that Odessa is 225, 300 or 600. They don't want to hear vague answers. Studying various documents that date not only to the times of the Catherine Empire, but also to more ancient dates, one can safely answer that “I don’t know” how old Odessa is!
Moreover, one should not think that the interlocutor or historian avoids answering. Pay attention to the toponym "Odessa" itself. It didn't exist 225 years ago. In addition, it did not exist even 600 years ago.
Reports of De Volan, V. Kakhovsky and the real state of affairs
At the end of 1791 - beginning of 1792. De Volan drew up a report in which he discussed the theme "The southern sea gates of the Empire - Hajibey". Yes, the Khadzhibey settlement has been known for a long time. Here we can safely say that a settlement is nothing more than an ordinary, in our understanding, a city.
De Volan says there will be no doubt the benefits of such a port. At the same time, he does not undertake to assert that the benefits will be unavoidable. The document says: "Further we meet the settlement of Ajibey with a fort ...".
Now it's time to remember about the report sent to the capital by Kakhovsky. In it we see the opposite information. That is, completely unlike those indicated by De Volan.
Now we turn to the memoirs of De Voland, which were completed in 1811. In his "Outline of my service in Russia," he writes that in his report, which was mentioned above, he presented Odessa as the forward port of the entire Empire. That is, we see again how the facts are turned upside down.
But it is interesting to see not only the reports, but also various documents of title of that time - the period after the liberation of the fortress from the Turkish conquerors. For example, in September 1794, the documents indicated that a site or a building located on the territory of Hajibey. That is, the toponym here is definitely not "Odessa".
Taking into account various inverted facts, references, the question can not be raised about how old Odessa is and when it was founded. You should think about another question. Was there even the foundation of Odessa as a historical fact?
As we can see, the question is quite deep, requiring detailed research. We will continue to talk about this topic. This is only the first part of the topic: “How old is Odessa”.
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