Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of War.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her freshly fitted front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its graceful transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she remarked, appreciating its twig-detailed ornamentation. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with several lively pavement parties.

It was also an act of defiance in the face of an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like everyday people despite the war. It’s about arranging our life in the optimal way. We have no fear of staying in our country. I had the option to depart, starting anew to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s architectural heritage seems unusual at a period when aerial assaults regularly target the capital, causing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been dramatically stepped up. After each strike, workers seal broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Battle for Beauty

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to preserve the city’s crumbling 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 prosperous fur dealer. Its exterior is adorned with horse chestnut leaves and delicate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are increasingly scarce nowadays,” Danylenko said. The mansion was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit similar art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One popular house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Several Dangers to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze historically significant buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership indifferent or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate presents another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We lack real political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a previous decade. The mayor has refuted these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now engaged in combat or had been lost. The lengthy conflict meant that everyone was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this continues the more we see deterioration of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Destruction and Neglect

One notorious demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its attractive brick facade. In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 invasion, diggers demolished it. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new commercial complex, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while asserting they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A previous regime also wrought immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate large-scale parades.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was killed in 2022 while engaged in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his vital preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their authentic doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not external attacks that destroyed them. It was us,” she admitted sadly. “The war could continue for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she continued. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which serves as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new red door and period-correct railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

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

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many residents not value the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to go to the west. But we are still some distance away from such cultural awareness,” he said. Previous ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their urban environment, he added.

Hope in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had caved in; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we are unsuccessful,” she acknowledged. “This activity is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this past and aesthetic value.”

In the face of war and commercial interests, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s heart, you must first save its walls.