HOW DID PEOPLE LIVE IN KIEV BEFORE BRIDGES?

It was a common thing for Kiev inhabitants of the 19th century to cross Dnepr on foot in winter and even in the beginning of spring.

Once a historian Nikolay Kostomarov and a famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko went to Brovary on foot to see “a piece of land 30 acres with a house on sale” (Brovary is located about 17 km from Kiev center). Ukrainian literature could bear a real loss! On the way back both of them almost drowned in a river. “We began crossing Dnepr”, Kostomarov wrote, “that was the time of thaw, and the ice began to melt and to cover with water in some places. It was dark; we lost our way and got into a hole. Fortunately, it was in low water and we only got soaked, then we hardly came home because of cold. Only youth and our habit for air changes saved us from flue”.

“Raccoon fur coat kept me up on water”

There was no stone bridge across Dnepr at those times. Each autumn before the cold weather pontoon-bridge was taken off, ferry boats were chained to shores by ice, but it was still dangerous to cross the river on foot. The traffic on the old Chernigov road stopped. Supply of products to Kiev decreased; prices jumped up and didn’t decline before the beginning of sleigh road. A new wave of high prices on Kiev markets took place in the beginning of spring.

The major holiday – Easter – often happened during the season of bad roads. The whole city rushed to Vladimir Mount to watch the floating ice. But not all the people enjoyed it. Some of them had houses on the other shore of the river, others wanted to celebrate the Easter in other towns on the left bank with their relatives, the students wanted to get to their parents. Wilful Dnepr crossed out all the plans. Anyway, each time there were bold fellows who tried to cope with it and to prove the whole world that the crash and rumble of spring ice-floes is not an obstacle. There hardly was any other city where people kidded jumping on rushing ice-floes a 1 km distance just in order to sit with their relatives at the Easter table. Such cases quite often happened in Kiev.

The same time when Shevchenko and Kostomarov tried their destiny on the melting ice of Dnepr, Kiev inhabitant Mikhail Andriyashev run through the river on ice-floes in order to visit his mother’s house in Poltava region and to see his bees. Usually a carriage came to take him home, but this time the ice broke up on the river too early, and the coachman went to Kiev on foot, on a melting ice. In the meanwhile, it became warmer and warmer and the next day when the ardent beekeeper went to the Dnepr shore together with the coachman, they saw floes of broken ice, quickly moving on Dnepr. The man and the coachman didn’t hesitate and jumped on the ice-floe which was the closest to the shore and then to the next floe. This way they got to another shore, but at some distance down-stream.

When the first open spaces between ice floes appeared, Kiev boatmen began competing with Dnepr. A young Kiev official Mamayev hurried to get to Poltava region in time for his mother’s birthday. The ride was an unusual one. “The public ferry was closed”, he wrote, “but I learned that there are postal horses on the other shore and found a fisherman, an energetic old man, who readily agreed to take me to the left shore in his small boat. He sat on the stern and paddled, and I sat at the head, my suitcase was placed in the middle. We manoeuvred between the ice-flows, sometimes pushed them, sometimes followed them, and then got into the open space, close to the shore. The obstacles seemed to be over, but that was a mistake! While we were moving on the clear water carefree, we didn’t notice an ice-floe which rose from the floor and overturned our boat. Everything – passengers and suitcase went to the water.

I found myself plunged into the water and would probably go down, because I couldn’t swim, but my raccoon fur coat puffed up and supported be on water. Old fisherman didn’t lose his head, he grasped the boat by one hand and my suitcase by another hand, then skilfully turned the boat, got inside it, pulled out my suitcase, and then came to me and took me out of water. It was high time to do that! My fur-coat soaked with water, turned heavier and heavier, and ducked me under the water. But probably the prayers of my mother were heard and I was saved. I got to another shore, went to the tavern where I put my clothing off, spread vodka over my body and went on”.

There were long queues of carriages on both shores

After the ice floating was over, ferry-boats began moving. They were called large and small “oaks”. The passengers felt quite comfortable on their boards, but the river sometimes made surprises. General journey could turn an accident. Once an “oak” with 20 passengers and 3 carriages on board almost drowned, because the horses were not accustomed to “big water” and one of them panicked in the middle of the river. “When the oak was far away from the shore”, the eyewitness of this event wrote, “one of the horses began striking the ferry and its back legs went into the water, while the front legs hanged from the ferry. The oak began turning, but fortunately, the ferryman hit the horse’s legs by the paddle, the horse went into the water and swam back. Afterwards we successfully got to another shore...”

People at the ferry were never at a hurry or fuss. They had their rest after journey, made fish soup on fire and enjoyed Lavra’s beauty. Rich travellers left their carriages for the care of servants and went to Kiev by boats, It was quicker and reminded them of a pleasant summer excursion. St Petersburgh maid of honour and playwright Olympiada Shishkina visited Kiev in the beginning of summer 1845. Dnepr overflow was too high that summer, and the ferry didn’t work. The lady was surprised at the crowd of people on the shore, but she was even more surprised at their calm behaviour. “In my Northern region, people would quarrel and fight, but here, near Kiev sacred places everybody put up with the necessity... People of different origin and clothing sat on carriages or walked around as if they had been accustomed to spend nights in the open air.”

Olympiada Shishina well described slow lifestyle on Kiev’s left bank. There was a certain reason for that. Ferry passengers were only a part of the public. Others came from the city in order to breathe pleasant river air and to walk on Kiev water-meadows of contemporary Hydropark. In the warm summer days a lot of Kiev inhabitants gathered there. Merrymaking ended only when it turned dark. The maid of honour enjoyed calm and peaceful atmosphere and thought that there was hardly anything better than a walk on Dnepr.

The water in Dnepr was so pure that people could drink it just from their hands

People could drink Dnepr water just from the river, sitting in the boat. “I was offered Dnepr water, but it was so warm that I couldn’t drink it. Anyway, it was pleasant to taste it, and I eagerly put my hand into Dnepr, full of sacred memories”, Olympiada Shishkina wrote.

The season of bad roads and queues at the ferry usually ended by the end of May. Dnepr water went lower, the beaches became dry and accessible for the carriages. Combat engineers began their work on both shores of the river. And soon, pontoon bridge appeared at the place where now Paton bridge is located. This large construction was anchored and connected into a single whole.

Long queues disappeared only after Tsepnoy Bridge was erected in 1853, on the basis of large stones instead of anchors. The remnants of stone were later used for the pedestal of the monument to Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Old ferry was still used for a certain period of time, before the embankment was built, then it went down the river, to Cherkassy.

The epoch of heroic games of Kiev inhabitants with Dnepr and ferry-men, the epoch of oxen and carriages near the berth, walks on the meadows went into the past. Camps and trade booths disappeared. Carriages rushed past the wooden floor of Tsepnoy bridge to Kiev. Nobody even imagined that instead of that rush people could get to the shore, wait, admire Lavra’s beauty and put their thoughts together before getting inside the city. Civilization triumphed. But anyway, Tsepnoy bridge was only a technical construction, while Dnepr ferriage had been a real part of Kiev life with its customs, legends and traditions!

(c) The article by Anatoliy Makarov from Interesniy Kiev web-site.

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