Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Post feature “Then & Now” takes a look at how places in the city have changed over time. To be an advertising partner of this special coverage, contact an advertising representative at [email protected] or call 591-7788.
The picturesque Vozdvyzhenka area, stretching from Andriyivsky hill to Zhytniy market in the historic Podil district, has changed beyond recognition in the last century.
The only thing that old and new photos of Vozdvyzhenka have in common is the ravine where the neighborhood is located. The buildings are significantly taller, more posh and more colorful, but less attractive for living. So now Vozdvyzhenka is often called a “millionaires’ ghost town.”
Since medieval Kyivan Rus times, this area was inhabited by craftsmen – potters and skinners, after whom the local streets received their names. The legendary hero Kyrylo the Tanner (Kyrylo Kozhemyaka) was also believed to live there.
Vozdvyzhenka was named so after the local Khrestovozdvyzhenska Church, known as a place where the famous Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov was baptized.
A devastating fire in 1811 destroyed the old houses of Vozdvyzhenka but didn’t change the area overall.
Prominent Kyiv architect Georgy Duchovychniy remembers that, as a child, he loved to visit Vozdvyzhenka, with its unique old-city spirit, handicraft workshops and one- or two-story houses with people of various cultures and nationalities living side by side.
In the 1960s, local historians and architects were planning to reconstruct the district and create a museum complex called Ancient Kyiv in its place. “According to that plan, the top of the ravine could be seen from every spot of the area,” Duchovychniy said, adding that low-story buildings would preserve the historic character.
But the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tough period of the 1990s put an end to this project. Fires, believed to be arson, prompted authorities to resettle residents elsewhere.
A new plan of reconstruction emerged in early 2000s and the actual works started in 2003. A hundred brightly colored houses built in late 19th century-style emerged. Some find them beautiful, others think they are tasteless.
But the problems include cracks in the walls, water in the basements, irregular heating and water supplies and high prices. As a result, few wanted to buy an apartment at Vozdvyzhenka. Even a 50 percent cut in prices spurred by the 2008-2009 economic crisis – from €630,000 to €270,000 for a 120-meter place – didn’t help much.
However, developers claim that their €100 million investment will be successful.
“There are 50 families living already there,” said Taras Ziabkin, deputy head of Kievgorstroy-1, the company that developed the project. So only 200 more need to be sold. “Poor occupancy of such expensive objects is a general curse of Kyiv,” he added.
While the residents on the cobbled streets of this luxury district don’t appear to be very visible, Vozdvyzhenka remains a popular place to stroll and for wedding photo sessions. Unlike the always crowded Andriyivsky Uzviz, the popular pedestrian walkway connecting the upper and lower parts of the city, Vozdyvzhenka is a place for solitude in the very heart of the city – the opposite of what the developers wanted.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected].
