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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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 -

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 -

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 -

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 -

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
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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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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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