Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its elegant transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, gazing at its twig-detailed details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who celebrated with two lively pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of opposition against an invading force, she explained: “Our aim is to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. Fear does not drive us of staying in our country. I had the option to depart, relocating to Italy. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

“We are trying to live like everyday people regardless of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way.”

Safeguarding Kyiv’s built legacy seems strange at a time when missile strikes routinely fall the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each attack, workers seal blown-out windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Amid the Conflict, a Battle for Beauty

In the midst of war, a collective of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the central Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was first the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is embellished with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“These structures stand as symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon nowadays,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a pointed turret on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area displays two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Several Challenges to History

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who demolish listed buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class indifferent or hostile to the city’s vast architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who destroy important houses. Perov added that the plan for the capital is reminiscent of a different time. The mayor denies 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 fallen. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing monetary strain, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Demolition and Abandonment

One notorious example of destruction is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the onset of major hostilities, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new shopping and business centre, observed 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 destroyed old properties while asserting 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 allow for large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was killed in 2022 while engaged in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his crucial preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 masonry mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful creeper-covered house built in 1910, which acts as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves 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 last another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s occupant, 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 striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna indicated a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons nested among its shattered windows; debris lay under a fairytale tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she conceded. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and commercial interests, these citizens continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to save a city’s heart, you must first protect its history.