About us
Our foundation, PDKEKA, created the Heritagebuilder.eu website as its first major project, with the mission to digitally preserve the architectural heritage of Central and Eastern Europe. We believe that our region’s beautiful, diverse, and often overlooked built environment deserves to be safeguarded in digital form — so that its beauty and its stories remain accessible for future generations.
Our goal is to ensure that we, the people of Eastern Europe, can tell our own stories through the buildings, towns, and landscapes that shaped us. Over the next five years, we aim to map every significant monument and heritage-worthy building in the Central and Eastern European region, and to share the stories behind them — from the perspective of local communities.
At the heart of our foundation’s work lies the rich culture of our region: its many languages, its varied economies, its history of shifting borders, and its complex ethnic landscape. We believe that these layers of identity can be felt and understood most vividly through architecture. Buildings — whether homes, churches, castles, or public institutions — carry the memory of the past and the spirit of the people who built and used them.
This is why we consider the heritage-mapping project essential: it serves as the foundational encyclopedia of our region’s built heritage, a structured base for all future initiatives. It is fundamental work that brings clarity, connection, and visibility — and it enables us to preserve the beauty and diversity of Eastern Europe together.
Recommended buildings
Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Čantavir
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Anthony of Padua in Čantavir is one of the settlement’s principal religious and landmark buildings. It serves as the parish church of the local Roman Catholic community in this village of Bačka. The building is an important setting for worship, feast days, and local communal identity. Its dedication to St. Anthony of Padua reflects a well-established Catholic devotional tradition in the region. Standing in the built-up center of the village, the church is one of the defining elements of Čantavir’s historic community core. Readily verifiable detailed monument-level documentation is limited, so only high-confidence general information is included here.
Casino - Băile Herculane
The Casino of Băile Herculane is one of the best-known historic public buildings in the spa town’s monumental core. It was erected in the second half of the nineteenth century, during the major Habsburg-era development of the resort, when Băile Herculane became one of the monarchy’s prestigious spa destinations. In historical use, it functioned less as a gambling venue in the modern sense than as a representative social and cultural building for visitors to the baths. Its setting and massing make it an important part of the historic urban ensemble arranged along the Cerna valley. The building is a notable reminder of spa architecture and elite leisure culture in the imperial period. It is also widely known today for its long-term deterioration, which has made it a focal point of heritage conservation debates in the region.
Lviv City Hall - Lviv
Lviv City Hall is the central municipal building on Market Square and one of the best-known landmarks of Lviv’s historic center. The present building is a Classical-style town hall erected in the first half of the nineteenth century on the site of earlier municipal structures that were rebuilt and damaged over time. Its tall tower is one of the city’s defining symbols and a major viewing point. The building has long served as the seat of the city government. It is also an important element of the historic urban fabric of Lviv, recognized for its world heritage significance. Its appearance reflects both its representative civic role and its prominent location at the heart of the city.
The Reformed Church on Farkas Street in Cluj-Napoca
In the historic center of Cluj-Napoca stands one of the most significant Gothic monuments of Transylvania and Southeastern Europe
Saint Sava Temple (Belgrade)
The Saint Sava Temple (Храм светог Саве) in Belgrade is the national cathedral of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the largest Orthodox church in the world by floor area.
Apatin Brewery
Apatinsko Pivara (the Apatin Brewery) was a prominent industrial facility in the town of Apatin, located on the southwestern edge of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Dualist period