Poklonnaya Gora is a hill in the west of Moscow, near Kutuzovsky Avenue. It is worth coming there to have a stroll in the vast Victory Park and visit the Victory Museum. The Triumphal Arch, as well as the Borodino Panorama, are also there.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, when the troops of Napoleon entered Moscow, Poklonnaya Hill was much higher. The Poklonnaya Hill was first mentioned as a hill located at the Smolensk road in the chronicles of 14 century. This road connects the capital of Russia with Europe, and it was on Poklonnaya Hill that important people and foreign ambassadors were met before they entered the city. In September 1812 on this hill Napoleon also waited for the delegation of the nobles, who were supposed to bring him the symbolic keys to Moscow, but no one came to him.
The hill was known as Poklonnaya Hill because while it was outside the city but from its top you could see nearly all Moscow. You could the domes of hundreds of churches towering over the city, and the Russian always bowed before them.
In 1950, during the construction of Kutuzovsky Avenue, a major thoroughfare of the city, Poklonnaya Hill was partially levelled, but the place retained its previous name. Poklonnaya Hill was completely levelled during the construction of the vast Victory Park in the 1990th. There are a lot of sculptures devoted to the Great Patriotic War, the Church of St. George the Victorious, an exhibition of military equipment at the Victory Park.
The Victory Monument towers over the park. It is a high spire topped with Nike, the goddess of Victory. The spire reaches the height of 141,8 meters, which makes it the highest monument in Russia.
The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War, which is often called the Victory Museum, is in the center of the Victory Park. The monuments dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812 are on the opposite side of Kutuzovsky Avenue: the panorama museum of the Battle of Borodino, the Triumphal Arch and the Kutuzov Hut, where the Military Council at Fili was held, at which it was decided to leave Moscow.
