In 1812 on Borodinskoye Field the army of Napoleon had the main battle with the Russian troops defending Moscow. Neither army won the battle but the Russian continued to retreat. Then they left Moscow, and a bit later the French army was driven out from Russia.
Borodinskoye Field is 12 kilometers to the southwest of Mozhaisk. Now there are over 70 monuments and obelisks on the territory of several thousand hectares. Among them you can single out the main places you must visit. They are: the Battle of Borodino Museum, the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery, the Rayevsky redoubt, where the main monument devoted to the Russian soldiers is located, as well as the Shevardino redoubt, where the monument «To the Fallen of the Great Army» devoted to the French soldiers killed on Borodinskoye Field is located.
If you go to Borodinskoye Field from Mozhaisk, you will pass by the village Gorky, from where Kutuzov directed the battle. A memorial monument was installed in that place.
Then you should go to the village Borodino. When you turn left, you will see the Battle of Borodino Museum opened by the hundredth anniversary of the battle in 1912. The exhibits related to the battle, as well as the events, which took place after and before the battle, were gathered at the museum.
A hill is opposite the museum. It is the Rayevsky redoubt, which was the place of the bloodiest events of the battle. The main monument to the Russian soldiers was built on the top of the hill in 1837. The grave of P. I. Bagration who was killed during the Battle of Borodino was moved to the foot of this monument in 1839.
If you continue to go along this road, you can reach the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery. It is located on the Bagration flèches, which changed hands several times during the battle. General Tuchkov was killed there. And later his wife founded a monastery on the place of his death.
The Cathedral of the Icon of Our Lady of Vladimir and a small house of М. Tuchkova is in the center of the monastery. She lived in that house before she became a nun. The big crosses are opposite the entrance to the monastery. It is the military cemetery of the soldiers killed on Borodinskoye Field. St. Rachel, the staritsa of the monastery, was buried near it in 1928. A chapel was built above its grave in 1997.
From the monastery the road leads to Shevardino and the monument «To the Fallen of the Great Ar-my». It was installed at the instance of French government in 1912. It is from there that Napoleon directed the Battle of Borodino.
