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.

  • Cabbies at the new station — Today Cabbies at the new station — 1932 1932Today
    1 Vokzalna SquareCabbies at the new stationThe new passenger station (1927–1932, architect Oleksandr Verbytskyi), blending Ukrainian Baroque with constructivism, and horse cabs still waiting for passengers on the forecourt. The building remains Kyiv's main railway station.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1932, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
    Modern photo: Волтарс, 2015, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • May Day parade on Sofiiska Square — Today May Day parade on Sofiiska Square — 1933 1933Today
    Sofiiska SquareMay Day parade on Sofiiska SquareA May Day parade: ranks of soldiers lined up on Sofiiska Square around the Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument. Soon afterwards Kyiv again became the capital of Soviet Ukraine (1934), and the central squares turned into arenas for mass parades. The modern view, taken from the St Sophia bell tower, shows an Easter egg exhibition where the columns once stood, with the bell tower of St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, rebuilt in 1998, beyond the square.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1933, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
    Modern photo: Imass ua, 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The demolished Samson Fountain — Today The demolished Samson Fountain — 1934 1934Today
    Kontraktova Square, PodilThe demolished Samson FountainThe Samson Fountain on Kontraktova Square, a 1749 pavilion over a spring that had supplied Podil with water for centuries, was pulled down in 1934, leaving its dome amid the rubble. It was recreated in 1982 from old drawings and again graces the square.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1934, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
    Modern photo: Luxoff, 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • LK-5 trolleybus by the Opera — Today LK-5 trolleybus by the Opera — 1930s 1930sToday
    50 Volodymyrska StreetLK-5 trolleybus by the OperaAn LK-5 trolleybus, one of Kyiv's first, outside the Opera House. Trolleybus service in the city opened in November 1935; today Kyiv has one of the largest trolleybus networks in Europe. The opera building (1901, architect Viktor Schröter) survives as the National Opera of Ukraine, now with a small garden in front of its façade.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1930-ті, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: МирославаСК, 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • Khreshchatyk before the war, 1938 1938
    Khreshchatyk at Arkhitektora Horodetskoho StreetKhreshchatyk before the warThe corner of Khreshchatyk and Horodetskoho Street in 1938, with pre-war buildings and a line of trees. In September 1941 the buildings on this corner were destroyed by explosions and fires.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1938, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Removing the bell of St Volodymyr's, 1929–1930 1929–1930
    20 Tarasa Shevchenka BoulevardRemoving the bell of St Volodymyr'sActivists remove a five-tonne bell from the belfry of St Volodymyr's Cathedral. The photograph was published in Prozhektor magazine in January 1930, captioned that "the precious metal will be used far more effectively elsewhere". The anti-religious campaign of the late 1920s and 1930s destroyed dozens of Kyiv churches.Archival photo: Самаріна, 1929–1930, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  • Central beach on Trukhaniv Island, 1930s 1930s
    Trukhaniv IslandCentral beach on Trukhaniv IslandThe central beach on Trukhaniv Island: sunbathing Kyivans, umbrella shades and the steep right bank across the Dnipro. In the 1930s the island became the city's favourite summer spot, and it still is, linked to the centre by the Pedestrian Bridge.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1930-ті, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
  • Removing the mosaics of St Michael's, 1934–1935 1934–1935
    Mykhailivska SquareRemoving the mosaics of St Michael'sLeningrad mosaicist Frolov and his assistants remove 12th-century mosaics from the walls of St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral before its destruction in 1935–1936. Some of the salvaged mosaics and frescoes are now in St Sophia's, others in museums in Moscow and St Petersburg. The cathedral was rebuilt in the late 1990s.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1934–1935, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
  • Athletes on Khreshchatyk, 1935 1935
    KhreshchatykAthletes on KhreshchatykColumns of athletes march along Khreshchatyk during a 1935 parade as onlookers watch from the pavement. The photograph is attributed to French photographer Pierre Verger, who travelled in the USSR that year. The buildings in the background perished in autumn 1941.Archival photo: П'єр Верже, 1935, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
  • Dynamo Stadium from the air, 1935 1935
    3 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho StreetDynamo Stadium from the airDynamo Stadium on the slopes above the Dnipro from the air in 1935, when it was named after the interior commissar Vsevolod Balytskyi. Today it is the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, home ground of the Kyiv club.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1935, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
  • Traffic officer at Bessarabka, 1936 1936
    Bessarabska SquareTraffic officer at BessarabkaA traffic officer switches the lights on Bessarabska Square in 1936. As cars multiplied in the capital, the first traffic lights appeared at its main junctions. Behind him is the top of Khreshchatyk, whose buildings were destroyed in 1941.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1936, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com

Have old photos of Kyiv? Send them to [email protected] and we will publish them with credit. Kyiv timeline →