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.

  • Kalinin Square from above — Today Kalinin Square from above — 1970s 1970sToday
    Maidan Nezalezhnosti, seen from Hotel UkraineKalinin Square from aboveKalinin Square (now Maidan Nezalezhnosti), photographed from the Hotel Moskva (now Hotel Ukraine). The square has been rebuilt several times since: the Independence Monument now stands at its centre, with a shopping centre under a glass dome below it.Archival photo: Thomas Taylor Hammond, 1972 (за назвою файлу — 1975), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Hnapel, 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • The Golden Gate before the pavilion — Today The Golden Gate before the pavilion — 1971 1971Today
    Volodymyrska Street / Yaroslaviv ValThe Golden Gate before the pavilionThe ruins of the 11th-century Golden Gate in 1971: two walls with a passage between them, open to the sky. In 1982, for Kyiv’s 1,500th anniversary, they were enclosed in a protective pavilion recreating the gate’s possible appearance.Archival photo: Jvonkorff, 1971, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Suicasmo, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Mariinskyi Palace — Today Mariinskyi Palace — 1972 1972Today
    5a Mykhaila Hrushevskoho StreetMariinskyi PalaceThe mid-18th-century Mariinskyi Palace, designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, with flower beds in front. Today it is the ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine, used to receive foreign leaders.Archival photo: Томас Тейлор Гаммонд, 1972, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: SNCH, 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Metro Bridge — Today Metro Bridge — 1974 1974Today
    Metro Bridge over the DniproMetro BridgeThe Metro Bridge, opened in 1965, on 1 May 1974. It carried the first metro trains across the Dnipro to Hidropark and the Left Bank, with a road deck below.Archival photo: Andris Malygin, 1974, CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Andrii Prokopov86, 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Sofiiska Square — Today Sofiiska Square — 1970s 1970sToday
    Sofiiska SquareSofiiska SquareThe bell tower of St Sophia's Cathedral and the Bohdan Khmelnytsky monument (1888) amid lawns and flower beds. The square was later paved and is now the main venue for city festivals and the New Year tree.Archival photo: Томас Тейлор Гаммонд, 1970-ті, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
    Modern photo: Sasha India, 2018, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

From the archive

  • Khreshchatyk, 1 May 1974, 1974 1974
    KhreshchatykKhreshchatyk, 1 May 1974Khreshchatyk on 1 May 1974, with its post-war buildings and a broad line of trees along the street.Archival photo: Andris Malygin, 1974, CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • Funicular car, 1978 1978
    Kyiv FunicularFunicular carA funicular car on the slope of Volodymyrska Hill in October 1978. The funicular was later reconstructed in the 1980s.Archival photo: Сарапулов, 14.10.1978, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • A kolkhoz market, 1972 1972
    KyivA kolkhoz marketVegetables and fruit from private plots on sale in a Kyiv kolkhoz market hall. Markets were the only place where food could legally be bought at free prices.Archival photo: Томас Тейлор Гаммонд, 1972, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • A Volga taxi, 1972 1972
    Probably Instytutska Street, by Hotel UkraineA Volga taxiA brand-new GAZ-24 Volga taxi, probably outside the Hotel Moskva (now Hotel Ukraine). In the early 1970s these cars had only just appeared on Kyiv streets.Archival photo: Томас Тейлор Гаммонд, 1972, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • A wedding at the eternal flame, 1975 1975
    Park of Eternal GloryA wedding at the eternal flameA groom lays flowers at the eternal flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Visiting war memorials on the wedding day was an established Soviet tradition.Archival photo: Томас Тейлор Гаммонд, 1975, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  • USSR vs USA athletics meet, 1975 1975
    Olimpiyskiy NSC, 55 Velyka Vasylkivska StreetUSSR vs USA athletics meetThe 1975 USSR vs USA athletics meet at Kyiv’s Republican Stadium — today the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, rebuilt for Euro 2012.Archival photo: Томас Тейлор Гаммонд, 1975, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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