Odesa, Petrokokino House in Marazliivska Street, 1896

Among the first Greek families to settle in Odessa were the Petrokokinos, who, after making their fortune in the grain trade, owned one of the city's major department stores in 1900. Located at number 28 Hretska (or Greek) Street, one of the oldest in Odessa, the building was designed by Bernardazzi, who was also asked to build three income properties, including this house at number 12 Marazliivska Street, on the side facing the large park created from the esplanade where the fortress once stood, overlooking the sea. Already envisaged in the urban development plan designed by Francesco Boffa in 1840, the park, now dedicated to Taras Shevchenko, would not be opened until 1875. Arranged on the sides of the main façade to accentuate its symmetry, the bow-windows and the balconies crowning them allow a better appreciation of the situation overlooking the park, while the luminous elliptical staircase demonstrates the attention Bernardazzi paid to the design of the residence's interior. 

Author: Guillaume Nicoud
Version dated: 30.06.2022