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.

  • Sofiiska Square — Today Sofiiska Square — 1900s 1900sToday
    Sofiiska SquareSofiiska SquareSofiiska Square on a 1900s postcard, with the Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument on the right and tram tracks across the square. The monument still stands in the same place; the square is now paved and the tracks are gone.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1900-ті, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Suicasmo, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Kontraktova Square — Today Kontraktova Square — 1900s 1900sToday
    Kontraktova Square, PodilKontraktova SquareKontraktova Square in Podil in the early 20th century, with a tram, horse cabs, shops and St Andrew's Church on the hill. In the modern photo St Andrew's Church rises above the Hostynnyi Dvir arcade.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1900-ті, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Lystopad, 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The City Theatre — Today The City Theatre — 1900s 1900sToday
    50 Volodymyrska StreetThe City TheatreThe City Theatre, built in 1897–1901 to a design by Viktor Schröter on the site of the old theatre that burned down in 1896. This postcard by the Swedish publisher Granbergs shows the building when it was still new. Today it houses the National Opera of Ukraine.Archival photo: невідомий автор, поч. 1900-х, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: KyivMax, 2021, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • St Volodymyr's Cathedral — Today St Volodymyr's Cathedral — c. 1900 c. 1900Today
    20 Tarasa Shevchenka BoulevardSt Volodymyr's CathedralSt Volodymyr's Cathedral (built 1862–1882, consecrated 1896) soon after the completion of its murals by Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel. In front is a low fence and an empty forecourt; today Tarasa Shevchenka Boulevard runs past with its traffic.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1895–1910, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Taras Zolotavin, 2023, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • A tram on Oleksandrivska Street — Today A tram on Oleksandrivska Street — 1905 1905Today
    Petra Sahaidachnoho Street, PodilA tram on Oleksandrivska StreetPodil's Oleksandrivska Street (now Petra Sahaidachnoho Street) on a 1905 postcard: a tram, shop signs, No. 20/2 on the left and No. 37 on the right. It is still Podil's main shopping street, although trams no longer run along it.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1905, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Mitte27, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • The funicular in its opening year, 1905 1905
    Volodymyrska Hill to Poshtova SquareThe funicular in its opening yearThe Mykhailivskyi mechanical lift (funicular), photographed by Dmytro Markov in 1905, the year it opened. At the top is the Church of the Three Saints, demolished in the 1930s, and St Andrew's Church is on the right.Archival photo: Дмитро Марков, 1905, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Khreshchatyk with trams, c. 1905 c. 1905
    KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk with tramsKhreshchatyk at the beginning of the 20th century: shop signs, tram tracks, overhead line poles and cobbles. On the left are Nos. 50, 48 and 46 in the numbering of the time. Within a few years the street would be paved with asphalt and built up even more densely.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1900–1905, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Building the Trinity People's House, 1902 1902
    53/3 Velyka Vasylkivska StreetBuilding the Trinity People's HouseFebruary 1902: the Trinity People's House under construction on Velyka Vasylkivska Street, a cultural centre with a theatre hall, library and tea room for less well-off townspeople. Various theatres later used the building; today it is home to the Kyiv National Academic Operetta Theatre.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1902, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Chess tournament in Kyiv, 1903 1903
    KyivChess tournament in KyivPlayers at the Third All-Russian Chess Tournament, held in Kyiv in September 1903. It was won by Mikhail Chigorin, the strongest player in the empire at the time.Archival photo: І. Н. Афанасьєва, 1903, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Dachas in Darnytsia, 1904 1904
    Darnytsia, left bankDachas in DarnytsiaThe railway station and dachas in the pine woods of Darnytsia on a 1904 postcard by photographer Dmytro Markov. The left bank was then a summer retreat for Kyivans; today Darnytsia is a large district of factories, housing estates and a railway hub.Archival photo: Дмитро Марков, 1904, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Tram in Lukianivka, 1908 1908
    LukianivkaTram in LukianivkaTrams among the ravines of Lukianivka in Dmytro Markov's 1908 photograph. Kyiv was one of the first cities in the Russian Empire to get electric trams, and by the early 20th century the lines linked the centre with outlying suburbs.Archival photo: Дмитро Марков, 1908, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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