Preserving Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Rebuilding Its Foundations Amidst the Onslaught of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had playfully nicknamed its elegant transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she commented, admiring its tree limb-inspired features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was made possible by residents, who marked the occasion with a couple of impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of defiance in the face of a foreign power, she explained: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of remaining in Ukraine. I could have left, relocating to another European nation. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance represents our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered paradoxical at a moment when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the beginning of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each assault, workers cover broken windows with plywood and endeavor, where possible, to salvage residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Battle for History

In the midst of war, a band of activists has been striving to save the city’s crumbling 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 originally the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon nowadays,” Danylenko stated. The mansion was designed by a designer of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby display analogous art nouveau features, including an irregular shape – with a gothic tower on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area features two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Several Dangers to Heritage

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who knock down listed buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class unconcerned or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We don’t have substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He alleged the city’s leadership was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the concept for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor denies these claims, attributing them from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once championed older properties were now engaged in combat or had been killed. The protracted conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of suspect new-build schemes. “The longer this goes on the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he argued.

Demolition and Abandonment

One notorious example of destruction is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the 2022 invasion, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a stern security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was little optimism for the remaining blue-green houses on the site. Sometimes developers demolished old properties while claiming they were doing “historical excavation”, he said. A previous regime also caused immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its primary street after the second world war so it could facilitate military vehicles.

Upholding the Legacy

One of Kyiv’s most renowned champions of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while engaged in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were originally 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 was not aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now nothing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a full of character creeper-covered house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and also serves as a film set and museum. The property has a new vermilion portal and authentic 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 “quite special and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not appreciate the past? “Regrettably they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are striving as a country to go to the west. But we are still some distance away from that standard,” he said. Previous ways of thinking lingered, with people unwilling to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Resilience in Action

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons roosted among its smashed windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “Preservation work is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this history and beauty.”

In the face of destruction and neglect, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, arguing that to rebuild a city’s identity, you must first cherish its walls.