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Nondescript Plague hill "Chumka"

Vodoprovodnaya Street (Водопроводная)
(South of the train station, just north of the rail road bridge, about 27 Vodoprovodnaya (Водопроводная) Street)

In August 1812 a plague from the Middle East struck more than 4,000 Odessites, about one fifth of the population. The dead were buried on a hill called "Chumka" (Чумка) Chuma means "plague" in Russian. Today this it is a nondescript embankment with no memorial.

From Odessa, A History:^[1]

Richelieu divided the city into five districts, each with an inspector and a doctor, to monitor the course of the malady and to impose quarantine. Four of the five doctors died of the disease. Cossacks were used to seal off infected areas. For about one hundred versts (35,000 feet) around the city, from the Boh to the Dniester Rivers, the government established a quarantine line. Provisions could enter the city only along one, well-supervised route. Stores, shops, the theater, the stock exchange, inns, schools, and churches were all closed. Normal life in the city ceased.

Some Odessites tarred their clothes-especially those who carried provisions into and through the city. Many took baths in the sea and washed not only their clothing, but also goods that came into their possession. Money in changing hands was soaked in bowls of vinegar. Bonfires were built to cleanse the city's air.

Carriages marked with a black flag signified death, a red one, warned of a diseased passenger. After six months the death toll reached 2,632; at its height in the spring of 1813, the plague carried off several dozens of persons per day. A huge sepulchral mound, Chumka, was built.

One section of the city, nearest to the dock (the suspected source of the infection), was burned down in a futile effort to limit its spread. The houses of plague victims were marked with red crosses.

Convicts dressed in black leather suits soaked in oil, and still wearing chains, were sent into the contaminated houses to clean them out twenty days after the dead were removed. By November, 1813 all Odessa citizens were confined to their homes, unless they had special authorization to depart.

Over the winter of 1813, the plague lost its virulence; and by February 1814, the city was declared "plague-free," although sporadic cases continued to appear until August, 1814.

Plague and war ended the Opera theater performances and closed the theater between 1812 and 1814.^[2]

Other plagues

Plague again struck Odessa in 1837.^[3]

During Langeron's governence (1816-1822) plague struck twice.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ Herlihy, Patricia (1987). Odessa: A History, 1794–1914. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0916458156, p. 45-46.
2. ^ Herlihy, p. 44
3. ^ Herlihy, p. 101
4. ^ Herlihy, p. 116

Continue your virtual tour by walking to the Odessa's Main Cemetery