The village of Demiivka (now the Moskovska square) was a Kyiv working neighbourhood, located between the Lybidska area and Vasylkiv. In the second half of the nineteenth century it developed dynamically due to its proximity to the train station. A few big brickyards, refineries, and breweries were situated there; the village had also its own separate market. In the photo one can see the Vasylkiv road (now 40-richchia Zhovtnia street), the wooden church of the Holy Resurrection, and the sugar refinery (later the Karl Marx confectionery factory; now the Roshen factory). In the center of the photo, on the horizon line behind the Lybid river valley, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra belfry can hardly be seen. As it was the case on the Trukhaniv island, a large community of Jews lived there as they had no special permission to settle within the city limits.

Olga Martyniuk