Archive · then and now

Photo memories

Kyiv in photographs — from the Chain Bridge and horse trams to Euromaidan and the city that held out in 2022. For many of them we found a modern photo taken from the same spot: drag the slider to compare.

Then and now

Drag the divider to compare the old and new photo.

  • The Lavra above Pechersk — 1870s–1880s1870s–1880s The Lavra above Pechersk — TodayToday
    Lavrska Street, PecherskThe Lavra above PecherskThe Kyiv Pechersk Lavra photographed by Yosyp Kordysh: the Great Lavra Bell Tower, the Clock Tower and the domes of the Dormition Cathedral rise above the roofs of Pechersk. The cathedral was blown up on 3 November 1941 and rebuilt in 1998–2000. On the right, the Lavra in 2017: the rebuilt Dormition Cathedral again stands beside the bell tower, and trees have replaced the low Pechersk houses in the foreground.Archival photo: Йосип Кордиш, 1870–1890, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: SnizhokAM, 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Andriivskyi Uzviz and the Church of the Tithes — Today Andriivskyi Uzviz and the Church of the Tithes — 1870s 1870sToday
    Andriivskyi Uzviz from Castle HillAndriivskyi Uzviz and the Church of the TithesAndriivskyi Uzviz in the 1870s: an unpaved road winds between the slopes of Andriivska and Castle Hills, with Rastrelli's St Andrew's Church above and Vasily Stasov's Church of the Tithes (1842) on the right. The Church of the Tithes was demolished in 1928; the National Museum of the History of Ukraine now stands beside its foundations, and from Castle Hill the descent itself is hidden by trees.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1870-ті, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Віктор Полянко, 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • Khreshchatyk from the Tsar's Garden, early 1870s early 1870s
    European SquareKhreshchatyk from the Tsar's GardenA photograph by Yosyp Kordysh, one of Kyiv's first photographers: the view from the Tsar's Garden towards today's European Square and the start of Khreshchatyk. The "Ivan" fountain still stands here before its 1871 rebuilding, surrounded by low manor-style houses. Today the site is occupied by the Ukrainian House, the Dnipro Hotel and a metro exit.Archival photo: Йосип Кордиш, поч. 1870-х, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Two-storey Khreshchatyk, 1870 1870
    KhreshchatykTwo-storey KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk around 1870: in the foreground is the long Eisman building with its shops (No. 20 in the old numbering), and behind it the slopes of the Old Town with monastery domes and bell towers. The main street was only just being built up; the Eisman house, later enlarged, was destroyed in autumn 1941.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1870, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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