Trade attracted many diverse people who formed multi-ethnic and multicultural communities, making Odesa a cosmopolitan city.

Its pace of development, the wealth it generated and its multiculturalism all influenced its architectural expression and the variety of styles that still remain in the urban landscape.

Designed by renowned architects and engineers, many from Italy in the early years, its theatres, religious buildings, schools, private palaces and tenement houses, clubs, hotels, banks, shopping centres, warehouses, stock exchanges, terminals and other public and administrative buildings represent both eclectic diversity in architectural styles and all the main activities of a trading city.

Thus, Odesa, through its urban planning and built heritage as a reflection of many cultures, values, customs, social structures, and denominations, can be considered to stand out as a testimony to multicultural and multi-ethnic traditions of Eastern European cities of the 19th century.

[3] On July 23, 2023 Russia launched an overnight missile attack on Odesa, which severely damaged the Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral, the city's largest.