Safeguarding the Capital's Heritage: A City Rebuilding Its Foundations Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko showed off with satisfaction her freshly fitted front door. Local helpers had affectionately dubbed its graceful transom window the “crescent roll”, a playful reference to its bowed shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, appreciating its tree limb-inspired features. The restoration project at one of Kyiv’s early 20th-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who marked the occasion with several neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “We strive to live like ordinary people in spite of the war. It’s about organizing our life in the best possible way. We have no fear of living in our homeland. The possibility to emigrate existed, relocating to a foreign land. Instead, I’m here. The new entrance shows our dedication to our homeland.”

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

Preserving Kyiv’s built legacy may appear strange at a moment when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, aerial raids have been significantly intensified. After each strike, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and try, where possible, to save residential buildings.

Amid the Bombs, a Fight for History

Amid the bombs, a collective of activists has been working to preserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the historic Shevchenkivskyi district. It was built in 1906 and was initially the home of a wealthy fur dealer. Its outer walls is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“These buildings represent symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko said. The residence was designed by an architect of Austrian-German origin. Several other buildings nearby exhibit analogous art nouveau characteristics, including asymmetry – with a medieval spire on one side and a projection on the other. One beloved house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a devil.

Multiple Challenges to History

But military aggression is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who demolish protected buildings, dishonest officials and a governing class apathetic or hostile to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate imposes another difficulty.

“Kyiv is a city where wealth dictates. We are missing 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 further alleged that the vision for the capital harks back to a different time. The mayor rejects these claims, stating they come from political rivals.

Perov said many of the community-oriented activists who once championed older properties were now fighting on the frontline or had been killed. The ongoing conflict meant that the entire society was facing financial problems, he added, including those in the legal system who inexplicably ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see decline of our society and state bodies,” he remarked.

Loss and Abandonment

One notorious location of loss is in the waterside Podil neighbourhood. The street was home to classical 19th-century houses. A developer who acquired the plot had committed to preserve its picturesque brick facade. Shortly following the onset of major hostilities, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane excavated foundations for a new commercial complex, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining coloured houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while claiming they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A 20th-century empire also inflicted immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could allow for official processions.

Carrying the Torch

One of Kyiv’s most notable advocates of historic buildings, a tour guide and blogger, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in a contested area. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were persevering in his important preservation work. There were originally 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s prosperous business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors remain, she said.

“It wasn’t aerial bombardments that destroyed them. It was us,” she lamented. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique 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 authentic railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

“The war could continue for another 20 years. If we fail to protect architecture now nothing will be left.”

The building’s occupant, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not appreciate the past? “Unfortunately they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are trying as a country to move towards the west. But we are still a way off from civilization,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking lingered, with people reluctant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Preservation

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

In the face of conflict and neglect, these activists continue their work, one building at a time, believing that to preserve a city’s identity, you must first protect its stones.