Living in Ukrainian Village, Chicago

Onion domes rise above rooftops throughout Ukrainian Village: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral's thirteen copper domes, modeled after Kyiv's Saint Sophia, and Ss. Volodymyr and Olha's single rounded gold dome both give the neighborhood a fixed visual anchor amid otherwise low-rise, brick two- and three-flats dating to the turn of the last century. The Ukrainian National Museum, tucked into a storefront on Superior Street, holds folk art, embroidery, and archival material tracing the neighborhood's history as a center of Ukrainian settlement in the Midwest. The Blue Line's Damen stop, just north in Wicker Park, is reachable by a longer walk or a quick ride on the #66 or #70 bus, which handle most of the neighborhood's daily trips downtown. Wood and stone rowhouses, many built in the decades after the 1871 fire, line the side streets with a density of architectural detail — carved lintels, patterned brickwork — though many of the same buildings lack elevators or in-unit laundry, a reminder of the building stock's age that shows up in daily life more than the ornate facades do.

The cathedral domes stay visible from blocks away in every direction, a fixed point for anyone navigating the grid of side streets that carry more architectural detail than a quick glance from a car would suggest.