Museum-panorama Battle of Borodino in Moscow

The museum-panorama «Battle of Borodino» is on the Poklonnaya Gora. It is on the site of the hut of a peasant Frolov where the military council at Fili was held. At the council Kutuzov took a decision to leave Moscow in September 1812. There on Poklonnaya Gora Napoleon also waited for a delegation of the nobles with the keys to Moscow no one had ever brought him.

The main exhibit of the museum is a circular panorama of the Battle of Borodino of 1812 depicting one of the attacks of the French cavalry against the positions of the Russian army. The height of the panorama is 15 meters, with the length of 115 meters. A circular building was constructed for it so that you could walk along the canvas and see all the details of the battle. 

The monumental canvas was created by a painter Franz Roubaud who was born in Odessa in the family of French traders. He is the founder of Russian panoramic battle painting, although he worked in Munich. Roubaud painted such battle canvases «Storm of Achulgo» and «Siege of Sevastopol», and in 1910, to the centenary of the victory in the war of 1812, he got an order for the largest work dedicated to the Battle of Borodino.

At first, the canvas was on display in a wooden pavilion at Chistye Prudy but then the building decayed, and the canvas was stored in a roll for a long time. The canvas was partially damaged but in 1962, to the 150th anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War, it was restored and a new building was built for it on Kutuzovsky Avenue.

Apart from the panoramic canvas, there is also an interesting museum dedicated to the war of 1812. We recommend also visit a small wooden hut, which is behind the big museum building. There was the hut of a peasant Frolov where the military council at Fili was held. After the Battle of Borodino, Kutuzov led the Russian army to Moscow, however, in this hut it was decided not to defend the capital, but to leave it in order to save the army. 

After a short stay in Moscow, Napoleon was forced to retreat from the city, and then this retreat turned into an escape. From the French army of 500 thousand soldiers, which entered the territory of Russia, only 20 thousand soldiers could cross back the Berezina river.