Safeguarding Kyiv's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Itself Under the Threat of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko beamed with pride as she displayed her recently completed front door. Volunteers had given the moniker its ornate transom window the “croissant”, a lighthearted tribute to its arched shape. “Personally, I believe it’s more of a showy bird,” she remarked, gazing at its twig-detailed features. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s turn-of-the-century art nouveau houses was funded through residents, who celebrated with several neighbourhood pavement parties.

It was also an expression of resistance in the face of a foreign power, she elaborated: “We are trying to live like normal people regardless of the war. It’s about arranging our life in the best possible way. We’re not afraid of staying in our homeland. I had the option to depart, starting anew to a foreign land. Conversely, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our allegiance to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings could be considered unusual at a period when aerial assaults frequently hit the capital, bringing death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been notably increased. After each attack, workers seal broken windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Campaign for Beauty

Despite the violence, a collective of activists has been striving to save the city’s deteriorating mansions, built in a distinctive 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 prosperous 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 nowadays,” Danylenko noted. The building was designed by a designer of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity showcase similar art nouveau characteristics, including an irregular shape – with a gothic tower on one side and a small tower on the other. One popular house in the area boasts two unhappy white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Challenges to Heritage

But armed conflict is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face unscrupulous developers who knock down protected buildings, unethical officials and a political leadership indifferent or opposed to the city’s rich architectural history. The severe winter climate adds another challenge.

“Kyiv is a city where capital prevails. We are missing genuine political will to save our heritage,” said Dmytro Perov, an activist. He asserted the city’s mayor was allied with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov added that the vision for the capital comes straight out of a different time. The mayor rejects 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 killed. The protracted conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, 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 state bodies,” he contended.

Loss and Disregard

One notorious demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was the site of 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, excavators demolished it. Recently, a crane dug foundations for a new retail and office development, observed by a unfriendly security guard.

Anatolii Pohorily, a heritage supporter, said there was not much hope for the remaining turquoise-painted houses on the site. Sometimes developers destroyed old properties while stating they were doing “scientific study”, he said. A former political system also caused immense damage on the capital, reconstructing its primary street after the second world war so it could accommodate military vehicles.

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most notable defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was fell in 2022 while serving in a eastern city. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his important preservation work. There were at one time 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many constructed for the city’s wealthy business magnates. Only 80 of their original doors survived, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that eliminated them. It was us,” she said with regret. “The war could go on for another 20 years. If we don’t defend architecture now little will be left,” she emphasized. Chudna recently helped to restore a unique vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and operates as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and original-style railings; inside is a vintage sanitary facility and antique mirrors.

“The war could go on for another 20 years. If we neglect architecture now not a thing will be left.”

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “very cool and a little bit cold”. Why do many citizens not cherish the past? “Sadly they are without education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still a way off from that standard,” he said. Soviet-era ways of thinking persisted, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their architectural setting, he added.

Hope in Preservation

Some buildings are falling apart because of institutional abandonment. Chudna showed a once-magical villa tucked away behind a modern hospital. Its roof had collapsed; pigeons made their home among its broken windows; debris lay under a whimsical tower. “Frequently we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is a coping mechanism for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and splendour.”

In the face of conflict and neglect, these volunteers continue their work, one door at a time, believing that to save a city’s soul, you must first cherish its stones.