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.

  • St Michael's Golden-Domed before demolition — Today St Michael's Golden-Domed before demolition — 1888 1888Today
    Mykhailivska SquareSt Michael's Golden-Domed before demolitionThe bell tower and cathedral of St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, photographed by Stefan Kulzhenko in 1888. The monastery was destroyed in the 1930s; the bell tower and cathedral were rebuilt in the late 1990s and early 2000s.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Andrey Butko, 2013, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • St Andrew's Church — Today St Andrew's Church — 1888 1888Today
    Andriivska Street / Andriivskyi UzvizSt Andrew's ChurchSt Andrew's Church, built in 1747–1762 to a design by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, in Stefan Kulzhenko's 1888 photograph. Cobbles, wooden poles and cabbies defined this part of town; today the church marks the top of Andriivskyi Uzviz, one of Kyiv's most visited streets.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Oleksandr Malyon, 2026, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • St Volodymyr University — Today St Volodymyr University — 1888 1888Today
    60 Volodymyrska StreetSt Volodymyr UniversityThe main building of St Volodymyr University (architect Vikentii Beretti, 1837–1843), seen from Volodymyrska Street in 1888, when the street was still unpaved and a high wall ran along the building. Today it is the Red Building of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Olga Loboda 0806, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The Tsar's Palace — Today The Tsar's Palace — 1888 1888Today
    5a Mykhaila Hrushevskoho StreetThe Tsar's PalaceThe Tsar's (Mariinskyi) Palace, built in the 1740s–1750s to a design by Bartolomeo Rastrelli and restored in 1870 after a fire, photographed by Stefan Kulzhenko in 1888. It was named Mariinskyi after Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Today it is the ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Волтарс, 2025, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Askold's Grave — Today Askold's Grave — 1888 1888Today
    Askold's Grave ParkAskold's GraveThe rotunda church of St Nicholas at Askold's Grave (architect Andrii Melenskyi, 1810) among the crosses of the cemetery that existed here until the 1930s. In Soviet times the rotunda served as a pavilion; since the 1990s it has again been a church.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: SnizhokAM, 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • The Stasov Church of the Tithes, 1888 1888
    Desiatynna StreetThe Stasov Church of the TithesThis church was built in 1828–1842 to a design by Vasily Stasov, on the site of the Church of the Tithes, the first stone church of Rus, which was destroyed in 1240. It was dismantled in 1928. Today only the stone-marked foundations of the ancient church can be seen on Starokyivska Hill.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Zhytnii Market, 1888 1888
    Verkhnii Val Street, PodilZhytnii MarketZhytnii Market in Podil seen from the surrounding hills: rows of shops and stalls, Podil churches and the Dnipro beyond, and St Andrew's Church on the hill to the right. Trade still goes on here: the site is occupied by the Zhytnii Market, whose building dates from 1980.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Podil from St Andrew's, 1888 1888
    PodilPodil from St Andrew'sA panorama of Podil from the porch of St Andrew's Church. Kulzhenko captioned the Third Gymnasium and the churches of St Nicholas the Good and the Protection; on the horizon are the Dnipro and the floodplain meadows of the left bank, with no housing estates yet.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Khreshchatyk in 1888, 1888 1888
    KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk in 1888Khreshchatyk in the late 1880s, still without trams (the electric tram arrived in Kyiv in 1892), with horse-drawn carriages and the first multi-storey apartment buildings. Almost all of the street's buildings of that time perished in 1941, and Khreshchatyk was rebuilt after the war.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Lypky and Fundukleivska Street, 1886 1886
    Bohdana Khmelnytskoho StreetLypky and Fundukleivska StreetA panorama of Lypky and today's Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street (then Fundukleivska) photographed by Yosyp Kordysh in 1886. The street was just being built up with two- and three-storey houses, while the manors of aristocratic Lypky already stood on the hill.Archival photo: Йосип Кордиш, 1886, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Demiivka suburb, 1888 1888
    Demiivka, Holosiivskyi DistrictDemiivka suburbDemiivka in 1888, a suburb outside the city limits of the time, with a wooden church, fences and single-storey cottages. It was later incorporated into Kyiv; today it is home to Holosiivskyi Avenue, Demiivska metro station and residential blocks.Archival photo: С. В. Кульженко, 1888, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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