Deribasivska Street

Vulytsia Deribasivska (Ukrainian: Дерібасiвська) or ulitsa Deribasovskaya (Russian: Дериба́совская) is a pedestrian walkway (street) in the heart of Odessa, Ukraine. The street is named after José de Ribas, who helped build the city, who was its first mayor and who lived on the street.

Map of Derybasivska Street, Odesa, Odessa Oblast, Ukraine

Next to the street is Odessa's first park, which was built shortly after the foundation of the city in 1803 by the De Ribas brothers, Joseph and Felix (Josep and Fèlix). This park has a fountain, bandstand, and several monuments, including a sculpture of a lion and lioness with her cubs, a chair commemorating the famous book "The Twelve Chairs", two monuments to Leonid Utyosov (a sculpture and also a phone which plays his music), and a monument to Sergey Utochkin, a famous pilot.

Deribasivska Street was previously named Gimnazskaya (Gimnazicheskaya) Street after the Gymnasium which opened April 16, 1804. It was renamed for de Ribas on July 6, 1811, being called Deribasovskaya or de Ribasovskaya or even Ribasovskaya. During the first years of Bolshevik rule (1920 - 1938) it was named after the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle. From 1938 to 1941, it was called Chkalov Street. Finally, on November 19, 1941, it was renamed Deribasivska.

Deribasovskaya street was closed to auto traffic and turned into a pedestrian-only zone sometime in the spring of 1984. Prior to that, it was used not only by autos, but also by the city trolleybuses of route 1 and 2, which were moved to the neighboring streets after replanning.

Deribasivska Street runs from near Polska Street up to the Preobrazhenska and Sadova, crossing Pushkinska, Rishelievska, Katerynynska, Havanna, and Vice-Admiral Zhukov Lane.

Every year on first of April the Humorina procession goes the whole length of Deribasovskaya Street, which is packed with tens of thousands of onlookers and participants dressed in funny costumes.