Kyiv and Its Suburbs — Near and Far

On the photos of the multi-volume historical ethnographic art album Ukraine and Ukrainians created in the 1970s – early 1990s by Ivan Honchar — a prominent cultural figure, sculptor, artist, and collector — we see Kyiv as the center of Ukrainian lands and home to majestic temples and figures iconic to Ukrainian history.

Social processes facing Ukrainians living in Kyiv echoed across all Ukrainian lands, forming a cultural tradition that reached our days. Ivan Honchar’s author captions to the photos reveal the collector’s and artist’s attitude to the monuments, people, and events reproduced.

In the second half of the 19th century, representatives of Kyiv intellectuals, namely, participants of the hromada (community) social movement, started to wear national clothes and embroidered shirts to demonstrate their closeness to the folk people. Through such peculiar fashion — taking place in the context of pan-European national revival — they drew public attention to the existence of a separate Ukrainian ethnicity and the need to realize its political rights.

In the volume Kyiv and Its Suburbs, the author majorly focused on Ukrainian cultural icons and scientists, mostly descendants of Ukrainian Cossack starshyna (military officers) or priestly families, who emphasized the uniqueness of the Ukrainian nation and worked for the sake of Ukrainian people.

An outstanding public and political activist Mykhailo Drahomanov and his niece, a young poetess Larysa Kosach, came from noble families having roots in Ukrainian Cossack starshyna. They publicly called themselves Ukrainians, adopting the pen names of “Ukrainets” and “Lesya Ukrainka,” respectively.

In the following decades of national self-assertion, classic Ukrainian musicians and authors created their works in Kyiv. The founders of the first Ukrainian Academy of Arts, researchers of folk traditions, and creators of the first Ukrainian museums worked here — together, they laid the foundations of Ukrainian academic institutions.

Despite the defeat of Ukrainian statehood in the 1920s, subsequent generations of Ukrainian intellectuals, while overcoming Soviet persecutions, worked on the study and preservation of national culture and folk traditions. Ivan Honchar was one of them.

In his multi-volume historical ethnographic art album, the author depicted Ukrainian shrines, traditional clothing, and the folk art of Ukrainian ethnic lands. For instance, Ivan Honchar included the pictures of the Kyiv suburbs dwellers in the volume Left Bank Kyiv Region. Gradually, these suburbs turned into districts and residential areas of the city of Kyiv.

Where Pecherska Slobidka and the village of Berezniaky, which became part of Kyiv in 1923, used to be, Kyiv residential area of Berezniaky of the Dnipro district is now located. The area was built up in the late 1960s and 1970s.

The workers’ settlement of Mykilska Slobidka also become part of Kyiv in 1923. In the 1970s and 1980s, most of the Mykilska Slobidka was demolished and Livoberezhnyi Masyv (residential area) of the Dnipro district was built instead. The last old houses of Mykilska Slobidka were demolished in the early 1990s.

The village of Voskresenska Slobidka became part of Kyiv in 1933 and was demolished in the 1960s and 1980s. Now, in its place in the Dnipro district, there is a residential area and a microdistrict of Voskresenka, built in the 1960s, as well as microdistricts of the Raiduzhnyi Masyv.

The village of Osokorky was located in the southeast of Kyiv in the present-day Darnytsia district and became part of Kyiv in 1935. The remains of the village can be found near the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge. Osokorky microdistrict began to be built in the mid-1990s. Slavutych metro station was constructed on the historic territory of the village.

The village of Troyeshchyna, located along the Desenka River, was a continuation of the village of Vygurivshchyna. In 1958, Troyeshchyna and Vygurivshchyna were united under the name “Troyeshchyna” and became part of Kyiv in 1982 and 1988. Today, Vygurivshchyna-Troyeshchyna is a residential area in the Desna district of Kyiv, which began to be built up in 1981.

The remains of the village of Pozniaky are located in the south of the Left Bank Kyiv. The same-name residential area in the Darnytsia district has been under construction since 1989. In 1994, Pozniaky metro station was opened.

Residents of Kyiv suburbs — bearers of Ukrainian folk culture — brought it to the urban environment of Kyiv and passed it on to the next generations.

Ukrainian statehood has arisen and exists in a hard struggle. The Revolution of Dignity, the war with Russia, and the annexation of Crimea are the tragic and triumphant pages of the modern history of Ukraine.
 
At the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, in the course of the enemy’s attempt to capture Kyiv, the towns of Bucha, Borodianka, and Hostomel faced brutal occupation. Under the devastating war, old photos from these areas, collected by the album’s compiler, provide an idea of traditional occupations and folk clothing of their dwellers.

Bucha is a former village that arose in the midst of a picturesque area during the construction of the Kyiv-Kovel railway in 1898. In the early 20th century, this was a country house area. Now, this is a town and a district center of the Kyiv region. In 2022, Bucha was awarded a title of the Hero City of Ukraine.

Borodianka is a former private town, later — a volost (administrative division unit in Russian Empire) center, and since 1923 — a district center. Today, this is an urban-type settlement in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region.

Hostomel is a former Cossack town of a sotnia (administrative division unit in many Slavic countries) and later — a volost center. Today, this is an urban-type settlement in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region and the center of the settlement community. In 2022, Hostomel was awarded a title of the Hero City of Ukraine.

Unforgettable memory of our Heroes. Kyiv has changed in a hundred years, as well as its surroundings, its people, and clothes. However, the self-sacrificing love of Ukrainians for their Motherland is what has changed not. The rapid spread of the poignant song of the Galician Sich Riflemen Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow in Ukraine reminds of the unity and power of the ideals of the Ukrainian people, full of love and devotion to their Motherland.