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.
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Khreshchatyk metro stationKhreshchatyk metro station entranceThe glazed surface entrance of Khreshchatyk metro station in 1963, three years after Kyiv's first metro line opened. The entrance still operates in the same place, in a building on Khreshchatyk.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1963, ліцензія не вказана · pastvu.com
Modern photo: Maxim75, 2010-ті, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
1 Mykhailivska SquareMykhailivska SquareThe building erected in the 1930s for the Communist Party Central Committee — St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral was demolished to make way for this government quarter. Today it houses Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, facing the rebuilt St Michael's Monastery.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1961, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Modern photo: Suicasmo, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
50 Volodymyrska StreetThe Opera HouseThe Taras Shevchenko Opera and Ballet Theatre (architect Viktor Schröter, 1901) seen from Teatralna Square, with a UAZ van passing under the overhead wires — an ordinary 1960s street scene. The 2025 photo shows the same corner: the theatre, now known as the National Opera of Ukraine, with trees grown up along its side facade.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1965, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Modern photo: Віктор Полянко, 2025, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
17 Kostolna StreetA planetarium in a churchIn Soviet times the Kyiv Planetarium occupied St Alexander's Church (1817–1842) — the sign is visible on the façade. The church was returned to the Roman Catholic community and is now a co-cathedral.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1961, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Modern photo: Бондар Володимир, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
From the archive
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Khreshchatyk near Taras Shevchenko BoulevardRebuilt KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk near Shevchenko Boulevard in 1960: a crowded pavement along the post-war buildings and trees.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1960, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
Maidan NezalezhnostiKalinin Square and the ConservatoryKalinin Square (now Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in 1961: on the left the new colonnaded Conservatory, on the right post-war Khreshchatyk with its spired tower. The square was still open, with no underpasses or underground mall.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1961, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
KyivKvass from the barrelA queue at a yellow kvass tanker — a fixture of Kyiv summers from the 1960s to the 1980s, when kvass was poured into mugs right on the street.Archival photo: Robert Schediwy, 1965, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway stationAt the station platformA passenger train at a platform of Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station. In the early 1960s the railway was still the main way to reach the Soviet Ukrainian capital.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1960, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
Khreshchatyk at Bohdana Khmelnytskoho StreetIce cream on KhreshchatykAn ice-cream seller with her refrigerated cart at the corner of Khreshchatyk and Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street, a tour bus behind. Street ice cream was one of the small joys of Soviet Kyiv.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1968, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons -
The Dnipro by the Pedestrian BridgeA boat trip on the DniproA couple on a pleasure boat, with the Pedestrian Bridge to Trukhaniv Island behind. River cruises were a favourite summer pastime in Kyiv.Archival photo: невідомий автор, 1968, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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