Some of the first photos of Kyiv were posted online: the streets are unrecognizable

Photography, as a more or less accessible way of capturing reality, emerged in the late 1830s. And almost immediately, the technology found its way to Ukrainian lands.

This is evidenced by photographs of Kyiv taken in the 1860s, which are probably one of the oldest images taken in the Ukrainian capital. These images were published by the Facebook page "Club of the Native Kyivan."

According to available data, these pictures were taken by a photographer from England, whose name is currently unknown. And in his photos, it is difficult to recognize the city that has now become a European metropolis.

The photo shows St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral before it was destroyed by the Bolsheviks. It was recreated quite accurately during the reconstruction.

The landscape of the right bank is also recognizable, as the bell tower of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra stands alone above it. Now, due to high-rise buildings, it is no longer the dominant feature of the old town.

The view from beyond St. Andrew's Descent to St. Andrew's Church is also quite familiar. In those years, the street was also paved with cobblestones. However, there were many wooden houses on it.

Another shot that Kyiv history buffs will recognize is the Epiphany Cathedral of the Brotherhood Monastery in Podil. In 1935, it was also destroyed by the Bolsheviks, dismantled, and then turned into a training ground for cadets of the Kyiv Naval Political School.

The rest of the footage shows the city's mostly wooden buildings, which have not survived to this day. They also show urban landscapes and the Dnipro River, which in those years was not equipped with embankments and periodically flooded heavily, washing away the banks and streets along them.

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