Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her newly installed front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its ornate transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, gazing at its tree limb-inspired features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who celebrated with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance towards an invading force, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of remaining in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, starting anew to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance 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.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy may appear strange at a time when drone attacks frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been notably increased. After each assault, workers seal broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Within the Conflict, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s crumbling mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its facade is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings close by exhibit similar art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a small tower on the other. One beloved house in the area boasts two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Dual Dangers to Legacy

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who knock down historically significant buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class unconcerned or opposed to the city’s vast architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was friends with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the concept for the capital harks back to a bygone era. The mayor has refuted these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

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

Demolition and Disregard

One notorious location of loss is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had agreed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, diggers tore it down. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, watched by a surly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its central boulevard after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a cultural activist, was fell in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s successful industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could last another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique creeper-covered house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Restoration

Some buildings are falling apart because of official neglect. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons nested among its broken windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Many times we lose the battle,” she admitted. “Preservation work is therapy for us. We are striving to save all this history and splendour.”

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