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Italy will play a leading role in the reconstruction of Odesa. Stefano Boeri, president of Triennale Milano, and Alessandro Giuli, president of MAXXI (National Museum of 21st Century Arts) in Rome, have just returned from a two-day visit to the Ukrainian port city, where, on September 6 and 7, they participated in talks with local authorities and took part in an initial survey of sites damaged in the war, beginning with the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was severely damaged by Russian missiles in July.
Accompanied by Odesa mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, the Italian delegation visiting Odesa also included Davide La Cecilia, Special Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, appointed by foreign minister Antonio Tajani; Professor Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, head of the UNESCO Desk in Ukraine; Francesco Spano, general secretary of MAXXI; and Pier Francesco Zazo, the Italian ambassador to Ukraine.
Boeri and Giuli’s visit to Odesa took place as part of a joint Triennale-MAXXI project to set up a Workshop for the Reconstruction of Ukraine. The initiative has the support of the Italian prime minister, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Italian Ministry of Culture. The project, to be launched in Milan on October 31, involves starting work on the restoration of the Transfiguration Cathedral, a symbol of the cultural and religious history of both Odesa and Ukraine, and then moving on to the reconstruction of over 50 buildings of high architectural value that have also been damaged in missile attacks.
Founded in 1794 in the name of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and completed in 1808 under the governorship of Richelieu, the Transfiguration Cathedral is the most important place of Orthodox Christian worship in Odesa. The church, in neoclassical style, had bright interiors with rich polychrome marble decorative work. The bell tower was built between 1825 and 1837, based on a design by Italian architect Francesco Frapolli.
Destroyed in 1936 by the Soviets, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior was rebuilt in the early 2000s. On the night of July 22–23, 2023, the building was partially destroyed in a Russian missile attack on Odesa, with extensive damage to both the façade and interiors.
According to Italian government sources, “Partly in recognition of the long and very rich history of exchange between Odesa and Italy, which saw Italian architects designing the city’s most iconic buildings in the late 18th century, the Italian government has enlisted two of the country’s most authoritative cultural institutions, Triennale di Milano and MAXXI museum in Rome, to assemble the best economic, technical, and cultural resources to contribute to the restoration of the Transfiguration Cathedral”.
The objective of the Workshop for the Reconstruction of Ukraine is to bring together Italian and international cultural institutions, architecture and engineering firms, businesses, and the financial sector for the urban and architectural regeneration of the cities and cultural heritage of Ukraine by setting up a European reconstruction hub with a focus on social infrastructure, such as schools and cultural institutions.
The initiative is intended to be the first step towards Italy’s leading role in the reconstruction of Odesa, whose historic center was recently made a UNESCO World Heritage Site and whose port on the Black Sea makes the city a crucial center for trade. Contributing to the reconstruction of Ukraine is a key commitment of the Italian Presidency at next year’s G7 meeting, including through the organization of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2025.
“We’ve taken an important and practical first step for Italy to take on a leading role in the future of this extraordinary city, which, with a population from 133 nations, embodies the cultures and religions of the world. After the visit and an initial summit with the mayor and local UNESCO representatives, the first step will be to establish a joint Italian-Ukrainian workshop, which, under the coordination of Triennale and MAXXI, will deal with the reconstruction of the city’s Orthodox cathedral. On October 31, the Triennale di Milano will host the first forum for the reconstruction and regeneration of Odesa”.
“The outbreak of the war in Ukraine was a rallying cry to the entire Italian cultural community, who’ve since worked with conviction but no clear direction. We now need to consolidate their work, and create synergies and structure to harness the contributions of each. Under the supervision of the Italian Ministry of Culture, at MAXXI we want to provide our expertise to Odesa as a city that, for us, represents the capital of the free European and Western worlds. MAXXI and the Triennale are acting as an advance guard, measuring the damage inflicted on the city by the Russian invasion. This work will form the foundations of a workshop with a broader scope that will involve all Italian institutions in a common cause that will see Italy as the leading partner for this area”.
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