Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her newly installed front door. Volunteers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, admiring its tree limb-inspired ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an act of opposition against a neighboring state, she clarified: “We are trying to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We’re not afraid of staying in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to another European nation. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance represents our allegiance to our homeland.”

“Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way.”

Preserving Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered paradoxical at a moment when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, bombing campaigns have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers board up blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Campaign for History

In the midst of war, a collective of activists has been working to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a distinctive style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was erected in 1906 and was first the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit comparable art nouveau features, including a lack of symmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a imp.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who raze protected buildings, dishonest officials and a political leadership unconcerned or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We lack genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He claimed the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov stated that the plan for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the civically minded activists who once defended older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The lengthy conflict meant that all citizens was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Destruction and Disregard

One egregious demolition site is in the riverside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who obtained the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the 2022 invasion, diggers demolished it. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new retail and office development, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A former political system also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its central boulevard after the second world war so it could allow for large-scale parades.

Carrying the Torch

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

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and period-correct railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not cherish the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still some distance away from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking remained, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; rubbish lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we lose the battle,” she conceded. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this history and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, arguing that to save a city’s heart, you must first save its walls.