Preserving the Capital's Heritage: A City Reconstructing Itself in the Shadow of Conflict.

Lesia Danylenko proudly presented her freshly fitted front door. The restoration team had affectionately dubbed its ornate transom window the “pastry”, a playful reference to its curved shape. “I think it’s more of a peafowl,” she stated, appreciating its twig-detailed ornamentation. The renovation effort at one of Kyiv’s pre-World War I art nouveau houses was supported by residents, who commemorated the work with several impromptu pavement parties.

It was also an demonstration of resistance towards an invading force, she elaborated: “We strive to live like normal people despite the war. It’s about shaping our life in the most positive way. We’re not afraid of remaining in our country. The possibility to emigrate existed, starting anew to a foreign land. On the contrary, I’m here. The new entrance symbolizes our commitment to our homeland.”

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

Safeguarding Kyiv’s historic buildings may appear paradoxical at a period when missile strikes frequently hit the capital, resulting in death and destruction. Since the onset of the current year, offensive operations have been dramatically stepped up. After each assault, workers cover blown-out windows with plywood and attempt, where possible, to secure residential buildings.

Within the Bombs, a Fight for Beauty

Despite the violence, a band of activists has been striving to conserve the city’s decaying mansions, built in a playful style known as Ukrainian modernism. Danylenko’s house is in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district. It was constructed in 1906 and was originally the home of a prosperous fur dealer. Its facade is decorated with horse chestnut leaves and fine camomile flowers.

“They are symbols of Kyiv. These properties are uncommon today,” Danylenko noted. The residence was designed by an architect of Central European origin. Several other buildings in the vicinity exhibit analogous art nouveau features, including asymmetry – with a gothic tower on one side and a projection on the other. One popular house in the area features two sullen white stucco cats, as well as owls, masks and a demonic figure.

Multiple Threats to Heritage

But external attacks is only one threat. Preservation campaigners say they face profit-driven developers who raze listed buildings, unethical officials and a administrative body indifferent or resistant to the city’s profound architectural history. The bitter winter climate presents 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 leadership was closely associated with many of the developers who flatten important houses. Perov further alleged that the plan for the capital comes straight out of a previous decade. The mayor rejects these claims, saying they originate from political rivals.

Perov said many of the public-spirited activists who once protected older properties were now serving in the military or had been fallen. The ongoing conflict meant that all citizens was facing economic hardship, he added, including judicial figures who mysteriously ruled in favour of questionable new-build schemes. “The longer this persists the more we see degradation of our society and governing institutions,” he contended.

Loss and Abandonment

One notorious demolition site is in the historic Podil neighbourhood. The street was lined with classical 19th-century houses. A developer who purchased the plot had pledged to preserve its charming brick facade. A day after the onset of major hostilities, diggers razed it to the ground. Recently, a crane prepared foundations for a new commercial complex, monitored by a unfriendly security guard.

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

Continuing the Work

One of Kyiv’s most renowned defenders of historic buildings, a heritage expert, was lost his life in 2022 while fighting in the frontline. His colleague Nelli Chudna said she and other volunteers were continuing his vital preservation work. There were initially 3,500 stone mansions in Kyiv, many built for the city’s wealthy industrialists. Only 80 of their period doors are still in existence, she said.

“It was not aerial bombardments that got rid of them. It was us,” she lamented. “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 full of character vine-clad house built in 1910, which functions as the headquarters of her cultural organization and doubles as a film set and museum. The property has a new crimson entrance and period-correct railings; inside is a historic washroom and antique mirrors.

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

The building’s resident, artist Yurii Pikul, described his home as “incredibly atmospheric and a little bit cold”. Why do many locals not value the past? “Sadly they lack education and taste. It’s all about business. We are attempting as a country to integrate with the west. But we are still not yet close from such cultural awareness,” he said. Outdated ways of thinking remained, with people hesitant to take personal responsibility for their built surroundings, he added.

Hope in Action

Some buildings are falling apart because of bureaucratic indifference. Chudna pointed to a once-magical villa hidden behind a modern hospital. Its roof had fallen; pigeons made their home among its shattered windows; refuse lay under a storybook tower. “Often we don’t win,” she acknowledged. “Restoration is therapy for us. We are trying to save all this heritage and beauty.”

In the face of conflict and commercial interests, these volunteers continue their work, one facade at a time, believing that to rebuild a city’s heart, you must first save its stones.