Greeks and Bulgarians, Russians and Jews, Moldavians and Ukrainians, the poor and the rich donated money to erect a monument to the poet, who spent over a year in Odessa and wrote dozens of poems and parts of the famous Eugene Onegin here. It was a seven year project, which was successfully completed. In 1888 the Pushkin’s statue was opened and became one of the must-see sights in the historic quarter. In the front of the statue there’s a plaque with the sign “ To Alexander Pushkin. The citizens of Odessa” in commemoration of the initiative undertaken by Odessa’ citizens.