Teremky did not exist yet: a historic photo of VDNKh in Kyiv was posted online

Teremky are located on the southwestern outskirts of Kyiv, between Holosiiv, Feofaniia, and Zhuliany. Historians say that the name probably comes from the nature of the old buildings – small houses.

Although this is a relatively young district of Kyiv, the area was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1198 under the name of the Teremets tract.  A historic photo of VDNKh before the massive Soviet construction was shown online, where the Teremky was replaced by endless open spaces.

The territory of modern Teremky has long been used for farming, as researchers say that the local soil is one of the best in the entire Kyiv region.

In materials from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, Teremky is listed as the property of the Kyivan metropolitans. Detailed descriptions of the farms have been preserved in ancient books.

Over time, these lands were owned by various monasteries, from St. Sophia's to the Lavra. Historians note that in the Middle Ages, there were real court wars between church institutions for the lands of the Kyiv region, including Teremky.

In 1867, the territory became the property of the Kyiv city authorities, and the Teremky tract was then called Sofiiska Dacha.

After the war, the Institute of Cybernetics and other institutions were built here, which, of course, involved the settlement of the neighborhood and the mass construction of Soviet "panels." First, the Teremky-I residential area was built along Teremkivska Street (from 1975), and later the high-rise buildings of the Teremky-II area grew.

The photo also shows the construction of VDNKh, a name that has become so firmly entrenched among Kyivites that few people know its official name, the National Complex "Expocenter of Ukraine."

At the site of the main entrance to the Expocenter, there was once a small roadside village that served as a post office with horse stables and a smithy, a hotel, and an inn.

VDNKh pavilions were opened on July 6, 1958.

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