Podil as a city within a city
Podil is one of the oldest districts of Kyiv, where the city's trade, commerce, and industry originated. The history of this quarter dates back to at least the 9th century, when the first settlements were formed near the Dnieper River, and later the district survived the Mongol invasion of 1240, which destroyed the Upper City, but did not stop life in Podil. Roman Malenkov, head of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve (DIAZ) "Ancient Kyiv" and founder of the NGO "Ukraine Incognita", notes: "Almost from the founding of Kyiv to our time, everyday life has been continuously bustling in this territory. After the destruction of the Upper City by Batu's troops—that is, the cities of Volodymyr and Yaroslav—it was Podil that actually became Kyiv. Upstairs, mostly monasteries, churches, and small, almost rural buildings remained. Podil remained in this status from the 13th century until the mid-19th century. That is why historians often call Kyiv of that time Podol, because it was here that city life was concentrated."
Kontraktova Square and its surroundings from a bird's eye view. Photo source: kyiv-heritage-guide.com
Frolovska Street served as an important route connecting monasteries, markets, and the Dnieper piers. In the 18th–19th centuries, this area was a center of crafts: furriers, shoemakers, and fishermen worked here, and trade flourished due to its proximity to the river and Kontraktova Square, the historical center of commerce. Podil also remained a center of spiritual and educational life: nearby was the Florovsky Monastery, a complex of four ancient churches, a bell tower, and about ten cell blocks, one of the key religious and educational centers of Kyiv, where people studied, copied books, and preserved knowledge.
Roman Malenkov, head of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve (DIAZ) "Ancient Kyiv" and founder of the NGO "Ukraine Incognita"
Roman Malenkov describes the history of the place as follows: “The house at 4 Frolivska Street is located in an extremely dense historical context. Within walking distance are Kontraktova Square and several key objects of the urban environment of Podil. The furrier’s shop building has been preserved here — a structure from the pre-fire period, the late 18th — early 19th centuries, as well as the former estate of the Grigorovich-Barskys. Right next to it stands the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Pyrohoshchy — one of the oldest shrines in Podil. Nearby is the area of another architectural masterpiece of the “Ancient Kyiv” reserve — the Pokrovsk Church, the creation of Ivan Grigorovich-Barsky, an outstanding Kyiv architect who significantly influenced the formation of the architectural image of the city.
"Forty meters away, Zamkova Gora begins - one of the key places of ancient Kyiv, where the Lithuanian and later the Voivode's Castle once stood. Approximately two hundred meters away is Andriyivskyi Uzviz, one of the most famous historical streets of the capital."
Aerial photography of Kyiv Podil. Photo source: Kyiv City Council website
A context that no longer exists
Over the past half century, Podil has lost part of its architectural heritage: the destroyed workshop buildings and industrial buildings left behind only fragments reminiscent of its former unity. Roman Malenkov emphasizes the scale: "If we talk about the losses of Podil's historical environment over the past decades, the list will be quite large. One of the most striking examples is the Guest Yard. The original building, built with the participation of Ivan Grigorovich-Barsky, was distorted by numerous temporary extensions during the Soviet era... Instead of restoration, it was demolished in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, a new building was built on this site according to historical drawings, but it was not a preserved object, but a new building that only reproduced a project that had not been implemented at the time."
Large-scale demolitions in the 1980s affected entire neighborhoods: a significant part of the historic buildings were destroyed on Borychevy Tok, Honcharna, Vozdvyzhenska, and Kozhumyacka streets, where the modern residential area of Honchari-Kozhumyacka appeared. Immediately next to Frolivska, 4, interesting objects disappeared, such as the building of the shoemaker's tavern and the Rybalskyi house, associated with the Magdeburg law guild system.
“Both buildings were probably destroyed in the second half of the 1980s. Today, a therapeutic garden founded by Mikael Colville-Andersen has been created on this territory,” Malenkov notes. “The losses were not limited to the Soviet period: in the 1990s, 2000s, and even 2010s, old industrial and residential buildings disappeared, including factories nearby, and modern structures grew up in their place. In the immediate vicinity of Frolovskaya, 4, only a few buildings remained from the old facade buildings — in particular, Frolovskaya, 1 and 1/6. Next is a Soviet building that once belonged to a prosthetic factory. Among the few preserved historical objects nearby is the 19th-century house of Captain Amosova, one of the last old buildings before climbing Zamkova Gora. On Prytysko-Mykilska Street, the historical environment is better preserved: here are the complexes of the Florovsky Monastery, merchant buildings, and large seminar buildings."
The lack of an effective monument protection policy, opaque developments, and negligence of owners have led to the fact that historical buildings that have shaped the architectural context of Podil for years are becoming "invisible." It is precisely because of the systemic problem of fixation that in 2019, Kyiv residents launched the NGO "Map of Renovations" - an independent project that created a database of abandoned and damaged buildings in Kyiv. The map not only records the condition of objects, but also serves as a tool for their preservation and return to urban life. According to experts, there are a significant number of buildings in the district that are in unsatisfactory technical condition, and this increases the risks of their loss from the elements or further development.
Courtyards on Frolovskaya Street. Photo: open sources
Podil, according to Malenkov, has lost a significant part of its environment over the past half century, and the individual surviving buildings are now perceived as isolated witnesses of a disappeared urban layer. Frolovska, 4 is one of such witnesses, a remnant of a layer where neighboring plots and torn-off fragments of the street only hint at a lost architectural ensemble.
The true story of the building on Frolovskaya
Building at 4 Frolovskaya Street managed to go through all the key stages of the district's transformation, from a craft and trade center of the 18th century to an industrial hub of the 20th century, and now stands on the threshold of a new life thanks to a major renovation. As the head of the DIAZ explained, very few archival documents have survived that would allow us to reconstruct the history of the object in detail, but enough to compile a reliable biography.
Life on this patch of land began at the end of the 18th century, when the brick shops of merchant Yukhym Mityuk operated on this site, closely connected with the Floriv Monastery and the artisan spirit of Podil. These trading premises survived one of the greatest disasters in the history of Kyiv - the Podil Fire of 1811, which destroyed the predominantly wooden buildings of the district, leaving behind a charred rubble of ash, bricks and chimneys. After the fire, the quarter was rebuilt according to new principles: under the leadership of architect Andriy Melensky and according to the plans of William Heste, Podil received regular development, and brick became the norm. It was then that the area on the corner of Frolivska and Prytysko-Mykilska Streets was formed as a private estate - brick, with courtyards, outbuildings and gradual transformations within the dense quarter.
Building at 4 Frolovskaya. Photo: Wikimapia
Roman Malenkov details the history of the building: "In the 1830s, the estate passed to the Malinovsky family. Presumably, it was Mityuk who sold them this property. At that time, it was a stone one-story building with an additional wooden floor. In the 1870s, the building was completed: a second brick floor appeared. And around 1887, the estate was purchased by the famous and wealthy entrepreneur Sava Morozov. This was the beginning of a new wave of modernization: between the late 1880s and 1912, a significant reconstruction was carried out here. Probably, part of the old structures were dismantled, new walls with large windows and high ceilings were erected, which corresponded to the economic boom of Kyiv at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, engineering systems were changing, heating was improving, and it became possible to make large window openings. Previously, windows were smaller, since large openings meant heat loss. Instead, the new architecture demonstrated a different level of comfort and wealth. Stylistically, the building moved away from the eclecticism of the mid-19th century to the features of Art Nouveau, and in a photograph from 1912, the inscription about the company “Sava Morozov and Son” can already be seen on the pediment. In 1915, when Kyiv became a front-line city of the First World War and thousands of wounded were brought here, a prosthetic factory was placed in the building - a response to the mass need for prostheses.
The production hall of the former prosthetic factory. Photo courtesy of Ars Longa
After nationalization in the Soviet period, the building continued to perform state and social functions, in particular as a prosthetic and orthopedic enterprise. After World War II, typical Soviet solutions were implemented: a third-floor superstructure made of cinder block and various types of bricks appeared, and chaotic adaptations for production were made. The original elements were gradually lost, and the building was adapted to new needs without a clear restoration logic. Systemic problems accumulated: long-term dampness, corrosion, improper repairs, lack of comprehensive maintenance. The condition of the building deteriorated to an emergency state: a destroyed roof, vertical cracks through the floors, problems with the foundation and basements. In 2024, this state-owned facility was sold at auction. Privatization gave it a chance for a new life. The new owner began a major renovation aimed at stabilizing the structures and preserving the existing facades. PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA already wrote about the owner's intentions and the architect's plans in the article "Overhaul without illusions: what is really happening to the building at 4 Frolivska Street." Even despite the lack of official architectural monument status, the new owner decided to carry out a major renovation, and most importantly, to preserve the facade and key architectural elements.
The concept of "background buildings" means buildings that create the historical background of the district. Roman Malenkov explains: "The value of such objects is that they provide a holistic perception of the environment, where individual dominants - temples, squares or public buildings - are organic and harmonious. These are not necessarily unique architectural masterpieces. Sometimes even a preserved facade or correctly executed historical stylization is valuable. In many European cities, the reproduction of lost buildings in the forms of the 18th-19th centuries is practiced, which allows you to return the historical scale and spatial logic. Over time, such an environment begins to be perceived as organic.
Location of the building at 4 Frolovskaya Street, aerial photography. Photo courtesy of Ars Longa
The building at 4 Frolivska Street is located on the territory of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve "Ancient Kyiv", created in the late 1980s to preserve the historical architecture of Podol and the Upper Town. The building was not included in the register of monuments for a long time, but due to the relevance of the object and public interest, a card of the newly discovered cultural heritage object has already been prepared. The next step will be to draw up the registration documentation for the monument.
Previously, the project was approved by the Advisory Council under the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection of the Kyiv City State Administration, and despite the fact that the building is not a monument or a newly discovered cultural heritage site, it was decided to draw the attention of the customer to the need to comply with legislation in the field of archaeological heritage protection during land works and to comply with the regimes of use of the historical area regarding the preservation of historical buildings and the preservation of the traditional character of the environment.
Condition of the facades of the building at Frolivska, 4 from the courtyard side. Photo courtesy of Ars Longa
Accumulated "fatigue" of materials: the path to an emergency state
Throughout its existence, the background building at 4 Frolivska Street was constantly exposed to various factors, which led to the gradual damage and partial destruction of its structures. The war with its blast waves only increased the risks. In fact, the building reached the natural limit of its physical existence.
Olga Tikhonova, technologist-restorer of the architectural workshop Ars Longa, explains: “Such structures were built under certain operating and climatic conditions, but over time these conditions changed radically. The nature of the building’s use changed, repairs and reconstructions were carried out, often with the addition of new elements and the loss of existing ones. All this caused internal stresses in the structures, weakening of the materials and the appearance of such characteristic defects as cracks in the masonry.
Olga Tikhonova, restorer technologist at the Ars Longa architectural workshop
"A feature of old buildings is that destructive influences accumulate over decades and even centuries. The so-called "fatigue" gradually forms in the materials - different in each element: brick, mortar, wood, metal or plaster."
Among the key destructive factors that act on an ancient substance and cause corrosion, chemical destruction or mechanical destruction, Olga Tikhonova identifies the following: mechanical damage and loads; static and dynamic loads; man-made influences; atmospheric factors (rain, sun, wind, temperature changes); solar radiation; excessive moisture; aggressive chemical reagents (acids, salts, oxygen, carbon oxides, sulfur, etc.); biological agents (fungi, microorganisms, insects); fire and natural disasters.
It was this combination of factors, accumulated over the years, and the owner's (in the case of Frolivska, 4 — the state's) disregard for the situation that brought the building to a state of emergency, when without professional intervention, the continued existence of the facility was at risk.
To better understand the existing appearance of the building at 4 Frolivska Street and determine a strategy for its rescue, experts conducted a comprehensive technological survey - visual, instrumental, and laboratory. Samples of materials were taken from characteristic areas of the early volumes to accurately determine the composition of the original construction and finishing mortars, as well as the color scheme of the facades at different stages of the building's existence.
Preparation for work to strengthen the foundation of the building at 4 Frolivskaya. Photo courtesy of Ars Longa
Olga Tikhonova describes the results of the analysis in detail: "Laboratory analysis has established that the original decoration of the courtyard facades was preserved after the completion of the second floor - in the original version, the planes had the appearance of brick facades with convex jointing in the masonry joints. Early decoration - after glue-lime painting in a color close to the color of the brick, decorative jointing was applied with a roller on a cement binder of gray color.
On the main facades, the first decoration (early 20th century) — cement-sand plaster, which was covered with the light gray color of the cement cover, which had been left open for some time — was not painted. Later, the facades were painted in white, ochre-yellow, and terracotta colors.
Based on field and laboratory research, a step-by-step technology for repair work has been developed, which is as close as possible to reproducing the early finishes. Separate technological schemes have been created for each element of the facade, depending on the material and its technical condition. The architects' many years of experience emphasize the key principles: the physical and mechanical properties of new materials should be as similar as possible to existing ones, they must be resistant to the negative effects of the environment and ensure the long-term preservation of the object. These principles formed the basis of the building's rescue plan.
Without violations: why the facade is the main value
State Historical and Architectural Reserve "Ancient Kyiv", headed by Roman Malenkov, is a municipal enterprise subordinate to the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection of the Kyiv City State Administration. In fact, this is the only system where the Department acts as a state regulator, and the reserve provides scientific support and expertise.
Dismantling rotten interfloor ceilings in a building at 4 Frolivskaya. Photo courtesy of Ars Longa
At the end of last year, specialists from the Department and DIAZ conducted another inspection of the building at 4 Frolivska Street, where repair work had already begun at that time. During the inspection, the scientists were shown the process of dismantling the Soviet floors. Roman Malenkov explains: “There is an assumption that the original floors could have been destroyed during the bombing of Kyiv in World War II. Instead, in the post-war or later Soviet period (the exact date is unknown, it could have been in the late 1940s or in the 1970s), metal channels were installed, which became the basis of the new floors. These elements are not considered architecturally valuable - we are talking about typical Soviet metal structures. At the time of the inspection, contractors were working with part of these beams: they were cleaned of corrosion, restored, painted and returned to their place. In cases of significant wear, the beams were replaced with new ones of a similar type. "According to the results of the inspection, the group of scientists did not find any deviations from the approved project."
The building's facade will be renovated and preserved. Photo courtesy of Ars Longa
But is there a potential conflict between the planned procedure for including the building in the register of monuments and the continuation of the renovation? Regarding this, Malenkov notes: "There are no formal grounds for stopping the work. The object will probably receive the status of an architectural monument, however, during the surveys of the basements, all floors and supporting walls, experts came to the conclusion that the architectural value in this case is primarily the facade wall. The internal partitions and the planning structure have no historical value. In addition, no complete drawings or reliable materials have survived that would record the appearance of the house as of the beginning of the 20th century, after the reconstructions associated with the Morozov family. In fact, there is only one photograph, which is not enough for a scientifically substantiated restoration of the original appearance."
In the following article, we will reveal in detail the building restoration project: what exactly is being preserved, what is being renovated, with infographics and expert comments.
