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.

  • Golden Gate before reconstruction — Today Golden Gate before reconstruction — 1910 1910Today
    40-A Volodymyrska StreetGolden Gate before reconstructionThe ruins of the 11th-century Golden Gate behind a fence, on a 1910 postcard. In 1982 a pavilion recreating the look of the old gate was built over the ruins.Archival photo: невідомий видавець, 1910, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Kon v ant, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Bessarabskyi Covered Market — Today Bessarabskyi Covered Market — 1910s 1910sToday
    2 Bessarabska SquareBessarabskyi Covered MarketThe Bessarabskyi covered market, photographed before 1917. The building survives, and the square in front of it is now a busy junction at the start of Khreshchatyk.Archival photo: невідомий автор, до 1917, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Jorge Franganillo, 2017, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The Pedagogical Museum — Today The Pedagogical Museum — 1911 1911Today
    57 Volodymyrska StreetThe Pedagogical MuseumThe Tsarevich Alexei Pedagogical Museum (1909–1911, architect Pavlo Aloshyn) in its opening year. In 1917–1918 it was the seat of the Ukrainian Central Rada, which proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic. Today it is the Teacher's House, with a museum of the Ukrainian Revolution.Archival photo: Гудшон і Губчевський, 1911, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Сергій Венцеславський, 2021, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The Polytechnic Institute — Today The Polytechnic Institute — 1911 1911Today
    37 Beresteiskyi AvenueThe Polytechnic InstituteThe main building of the Emperor Alexander II Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1898, in winter 1911. It then stood among fields on the edge of town; today it is the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, one of Ukraine's largest technical universities.Archival photo: Гудшон і Губчевський, 1911, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Мандрівниця, 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • Tram in Sviatoshyn, 1912 1912
    SviatoshynTram in SviatoshynThe Sviatoshyn tram on a 1912 postcard by Dmytro Markov: a tramcar at a stop in Sviatoshyn, then a dacha suburb of Kyiv.Archival photo: Дмитро Марков, 1912, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • The City Duma, 1911 1911
    Maidan NezalezhnostiThe City DumaThe City Duma building (1876–1878, architect Oleksandr Schille), with a figure of Archangel Michael on its spire, stood on Duma Square, today's Maidan Nezalezhnosti. It was destroyed during the Second World War and the ruins were cleared. Archangel Michael returned to the Maidan in 2001, atop the Liadski Gate.Archival photo: Гудшон і Губчевський, 1911, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • A boat off Trukhaniv Island, 1912 1912
    Trukhaniv IslandA boat off Trukhaniv IslandThe view from Trukhaniv Island to Podil: a boat with passengers, steamers at the piers and St Andrew's Church on the hill. The island then had its own settlement, which was burned down during the war; today Trukhaniv is a park with beaches in the middle of the city.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1912, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Street cobblers, 1913 1913
    KyivStreet cobblersJewish street cobblers at work, a photograph from the Czech magazine Rudé květy, 1913. Craftsmen with a stool and a toolbox were a familiar sight on Kyiv's streets, especially in Podil and near the markets.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1913, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Soldiers by St Sophia, 1917 1917
    Sofiiska SquareSoldiers by St SophiaSoldiers attending the Third All-Ukrainian Military Congress in front of St Sophia's Cathedral, November 1917. In those days the Central Rada proclaimed its Third Universal on Sofiiska Square, establishing the Ukrainian People's Republic.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1917, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Founders of the Academy of Arts, 1917 1917
    KyivFounders of the Academy of ArtsThe founders of the Ukrainian State Academy of Arts at its opening in December 1917, artists who shaped a new Ukrainian modernism. Its successor is the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1917, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Parade of the Ukrainian State, 1918 1918
    KyivParade of the Ukrainian StateA military parade of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi's Ukrainian State in 1918. In the foreground is Oleksandr Slyvynskyi, Chief of the General Staff. The Hetmanate lasted from April to December 1918.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1918, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Rally on Khreshchatyk, c. 1918–1919 c. 1918–1919
    KhreshchatykRally on KhreshchatykA rally with flags on Khreshchatyk during the revolutionary years, c. 1918–1919, photographed by the Polish photographer Witold Marczewski. Power in Kyiv changed hands more than a dozen times in those years.Archival photo: Вітольд Марчевський, бл. 1918–1919, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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