Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. The restoration team had given the moniker its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a whimsical nod to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its twig-detailed features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who celebrated with two impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance against an invading force, she explained: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the optimal way. Fear does not drive us of living in our country. I could have left, relocating to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

“We strive to live like everyday people in spite of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered strange at a period when aerial assaults routinely fall the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, bombing campaigns have been significantly intensified. After each assault, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Among the Conflict, a Campaign for History

Amid the bombs, a band of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was initially the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity display analogous art nouveau features, including an irregular shape – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area displays two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a governing class apathetic or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The severe winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the concept for the capital is reminiscent of a bygone era. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Destruction and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, excavators razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, monitored by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while asserting they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A 20th-century empire also wrought immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was fell in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his vital preservation work. There were originally 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their authentic doors survived, she said.

“It was not external attacks that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not appreciate the past? “Regrettably they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa concealed behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons nested among its smashed windows; debris lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of war and neglect, these citizens continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first cherish its history.