A walk through Kyiv’s center rarely passes without spotting at least one empty old building from before the Soviet era. Some are on sale and will be blessed with restoration. Others are slowly crumbling, forgotten and forlorn. Both offer insights into the history of the old Kyiv.
Future museum on Voznesensky Uzviz
The building on 26 Voznesensky Uzviz St. is lucky. It will become a museum of porcelain figurines soon. It is in the old neighborhood that used to be called Kopyriv Kinets (Kopyriv End), which according to some historians, was one of the main residential areas in Kyiv in the 10th century.
The street also hosts the National Art Academy, which stands right on the site where a monastery was located in the 11th century. And later, in the 12th century, the Kyivan Rus ruler Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovych resided in the area.
The house No. 26 was built in the 18th century and stands empty since the 1950s. It used to be home to famous Ukrainian historian Viktor Romanovsky. He was arrested and sent to a forced labor camp during the 1930s repressions. Today the house belongs to the city.
In July 2015, the city council supported the idea to start a porcelain museum in the empty house, but nothing was done so far.
Silent giant in Pushkinska Street
The mansion on 35/37 Pushkinska St. is less fortunate.
The four houses, all abandoned, were built in late 19th century by Friedrich Michelson for himself and his two daughters.
Millionaire Michelson was a native German who settled in Kyiv and took a prominent place among the local entrepreneurs. He owned brick and glass factories.
On the odd side of Pushkinska Street, Michelson erected two four-story and two two-story buildings. Over the course of the century, the houses were tenements, hosted local authorities. For a brief time during the Second World War, one of the apartments was occupied by the members of the group of famous Soviet secret service agent Ivan Kudrya.
The houses have been empty since the 1990s. Today the buildings miss many windows and are in poor condition. Still, couple times a year they serve as a filming location for costume films.
To take a closer look at the houses, one may enter the courtyard through the arch near the 31A Pushkinska.
In May, the houses’ owner, development company NEST, started a contest to find the best reconstruction project for the houses.
Ivana Franka Street
Ivana Franka Street that runs from Yaroslaviv Val Street to Shevchenko Boulevard is a remarkable one. The whole area was empty until the mid-19th century when the first houses were built.
The street has several abandoned old houses. The four-story house at 4 Ivana Franka St. stands in a place of a wooden house built by a local high-rank official, the province secretary, in the times when Kyiv was part of the Russian Empire.
The next one, 5 Ivana Franka Street, is also empty. In the 19th century, it was a home of Vasil Vashchenko, famous beekeeper. It is in good condition and is suitable for offices or apartments.
The Castle of Baron
The so-called Castle of Baron on 1 Yaroslaviv Val has never seen any barons. But it does look like a small fairy-tale castle.
It was built in 1898 by the nobleman Mikhail Podgorsky, who died shortly after the construction was finished. After him, the house was owned by a sugar producer. The rooms were rented out. In the early 20th century, it hosted a cinema and a bakery, and in Soviet times – police, administrative offices, and communal apartments, where several families lived at once.
If this sounds too dull for the castle, there is always another story: an urban legend that says that a mysterious tobacco business owner named Salve used to rent out the best rooms on the top floor for dates with his mistress.
The building that belongs to a member of Kyiv city council stands empty since the early 2000s. It is for sale. In 2011, it was offered for $9 million.
In 2013, Czech President Milos Zeman reportedly offered Ukraine to give the house to Czech Embassy to offset the state debt to the Czech Republic.
Richard’s Castle
The empty house nicknamed Castle of Richard the Lionheart stands on 15 Andriyivsky Uzviz St., in the place most popular with tourists.
The house style was inspired by the English Gothic Revival. It was built in 1904 for nobleman Dmitry Orlov and was used as a tenement.
In the early 1990s, it was owned by Yuri Chopivsky, an American of Ukrainian roots. He tried to remodel the house into a fancy hotel, but the reconstruction stopped after a couple of years.
Sikorsky House
When talking about the old houses associated with famous names, it is worth mentioning the Sikorsky House on 15B Yaroslaviv Val. Igor Sikorsky, the famous aircraft designer behind some of the key inventions in the field, was born here.
