An interesting collection of photographs taken in various regions of Ukraine in the mid-20th century. All presented photographs are taken from the album “Ukrainian Folk Art. Costumes” published by the State Publishing House of Fine Arts and Musical Literature of the Ukrainian SSR in 1961. This album shows Ukrainian folk costumes of the 19th-20th centuries.

The material in the album is arranged in chronological order, taking into account the characteristic features of folk costumes of different regions of Ukraine. The album contains unique materials that reveal the regional diversity of cut, fabrics, and decoration.

A girl in summer clothes. Kyiv Oblast.

more historical photos

Tags: Chernigov oblast · Ivano-Frankivsk oblast · Kharkov oblast · Khmelnitsky oblast · Kiev oblast · Kirovograd oblast · Lviv oblast · Poltava oblast · Ternopil oblast

The Transcarpathian Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life is an open-air museum located in the city of Uzhhorod, the capital of Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine.

It features architectural monuments from old Transcarpathian villages and examples of the oldest and widespread forms of folk applied art. The Museum of Folk Architecture in Uzhhorod on Google Maps. Photos by: Taras Kashchak.

scenic museum in the center of Uzhhorod

Tags: museum · Uzhgorod city · Zakarpattia oblast

Palanok Castle, also known as Mukachevo Castle, is a picturesque castle in the city of Mukachevo in Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine. Situated on a 68-meter-high volcanic mountain, it covers an area of ​​13,930 square meters. This castle is an outstanding historical, architectural, military-fortification and historical monument of Transcarpathia of the 14th-18th centuries.

The castle’s exact founding date is unknown; it is first mentioned in documents dating back to the 11th century. Its name derives from its construction. A moat was originally dug around the mountain and filled with water. Its inner bank was surrounded by an oak palisade, called a “palanok.” The castle houses a historical museum, an art gallery with an exhibition of contemporary paintings, and an art salon.

Tags: Mukachevo city · Zakarpattia oblast

Today, Pripyat is an abandoned city located in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, 3 km northwest of the closed Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, about 110 km north of Kyiv in a straight line. Immediately after the accident, radiation levels in the Chernobyl zone and Pripyat were very high.

However, 39 years ago, it was a rapidly growing city with a population of about 47,500 people. Pripyat on Google Maps. Photos: pripyat-city.ru

Pripyat, not yet abandoned

Tags: Kiev oblast · Pripyat city

Putivl is a small town with a population of about 12,000 people, located in Sumy Oblast, approximately 80 km northwest of the city of Sumy.

The unique photographs presented below were taken by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a pioneer of color photography in the Russian Empire, near the town of Putivl in 1904-1905. At that time, its population was about 10 thousand people and it was part of the Kursk Governorate of the Russian Empire. On October 16, 1925, Putyvl and its surrounding villages were transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. Source: The Legacy of S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky.

The town of Putyvl of the Russian Empire.

Ukraine in the early 20th century

Tags: Sumy oblast

The State Historical and Architectural Reserve “Khotyn Fortress” is a fortress of the 13th-18th centuries located in the town of Khotyn on the bank of the Dniester River in Chernivtsi Oblast, about 60 km northeast of Chernivtsi.

Of the entire fortress, the Khotyn Castle is best preserved, although from a height you can see the remains of other fortifications. The Khotyn Fortress on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

fly over the Khotyn Fortress

Tags: Chernivtsi city · Chernovtsy oblast · fortress

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (until 1918 – Akkerman) is a town with a population of about 47 thousand people located on the north-west coast of the Black Sea in Odesa Oblast, about 85 km south of Odesa. It is one of the oldest towns in today’s Ukraine.

The main attraction of this town is its old fortress – the largest fortress in the territory of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Fortress on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

magnificent fortress

Tags: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi city · fortress · Odessa oblast

The medieval fortress in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi looks especially picturesque from a bird’s eye view, when you can see the entire complex.

The thickness of the walls varies from 1.5 to 5 meters, the height of the walls and towers – 5-15 meters. The basis of the fortress complex is the Citadel – the most fortified part of it. Akkerman Fortress on Google Maps. Photos by: Maxim Ritus.

fly over the fortress

Tags: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi city · fortress · Odessa oblast

Pereiaslav is a town-museum with a population of about 26 thousand people located in the Kyiv region, 90 km southeast of Kyiv. This is one of the oldest towns in Ukraine, first mentioned in 907.

This town is also widely known in connection with the Pereiaslav Rada held here under Hetman Bogdan Khmelnytsky in 1654. It was an official meeting that convened for a ceremonial pledge of allegiance by Cossacks to the Tsar of Russia. In 1943-2019, in memory of this event, the town was called Pereiaslav-Khmelnytsky.

In total, there are 27 museums in Pereiaslav. The Museum of Folk Life and Architecture of Middle Dnieper Ukraine is one of the most interesting ones. Photos by: Igor Golovach.

explore the museum

Tags: Kiev oblast · museum

Let’s walk through the main streets of Kyiv and see how they looked in 1985. After the Second World War, Kyiv became the third largest city in the Soviet Union after Moscow and Leningrad, the capital of the second largest Soviet republic.

The photos were taken one year before the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which caused a significant deterioration in the environmental situation in the city, and 6 years before Kyiv became the capital of an independent Ukraine. Source

back to the past of Ukraine

Tags: Kiev city