Protecting Kyiv's Heritage: An Urban Center Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of War.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her recently completed front door. Local helpers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “pastry”, a lighthearted tribute to its curved shape. “In my opinion it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, admiring its twig-detailed details. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an expression of opposition in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “Our aim is to live like ordinary people despite the war. It’s about organizing our life in the most positive way. Fear does not drive us of staying in Ukraine. I could have left, starting anew to Italy. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings seems paradoxical at a moment when missile strikes regularly target the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the start of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers seal shattered windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Among the Bombs, a Battle for History

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to save the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a whimsical style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was first the home of a affluent fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and intricate camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are quite rare in the present day,” Danylenko stated. The residence was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings close by display analogous art nouveau elements, including a lack of symmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a turret on the other. One much-loved house in the area boasts two forlorn white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Dual Threats to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unprincipled developers who demolish protected buildings, corrupt officials and a governing class unconcerned or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The harsh winter climate imposes another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where money wins. We lack substantive political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who bulldoze important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor denies these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once defended older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The protracted 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 decline of our society and state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Neglect

One glaring demolition site is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had agreed to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the full-scale invasion, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new commercial complex, watched by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was faint chance for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers levelled old properties while stating they were doing “archaeological research”, he said. A previous regime also inflicted immense damage on the capital, rebuilding its main thoroughfare after the second world war so it could facilitate military vehicles.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was fell in 2022 while serving in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were carrying on his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 brick-built mansions in Kyiv, many erected for the city’s prosperous entrepreneurs. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now not a thing will be left,” she added. Chudna recently helped to restore a characterful ivy-draped 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 original-style railings; inside is a period bathroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could last another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left.”

The building’s tenant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not appreciate the past? “Sadly they do not have education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still not yet close from that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Restoration

Some buildings are collapsing because of institutional abandonment. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; rubbish lay under a fairytale tower. “Often we don’t win,” she conceded. “This activity is therapy for us. We are attempting to save all this heritage and beauty.”

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