Sports Ground, destroyed multi-purpose stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine
Sports Ground was a large open-air stadium in the Lukyanivka neighborhood of Kyiv, built for several sports at once. It had an oval running track, a separate cycle track with banked curves, and wooden stands that wrapped around the main field.
The stadium opened in 1912 as the first permanent sports ground in its region, during a period when organized athletics were just becoming popular among city residents. It was destroyed during the First World War and never rebuilt on the same spot.
In its early years, the stands filled with local families, students and workers who came to watch matches and races as a shared weekend routine. The oval shape of the field meant everyone could see both the finish line and the cyclists entering the final curve.
Visitors today can walk around the former perimeter on public streets, since no entrance gate or fence remains from the original structure. The ground is flat and easy to reach on foot from nearby tram stops along the main road.
The stadium's cycling track had banked corners that allowed riders to keep high speed without braking, a rare design for that part of the world at the time. Long-distance races sometimes left the stadium entirely, following roads out of Kyiv and back to the finish line inside the venue.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
