The monuments commemorating the Battle of Borodino, which ranks among the most famous battles in Russian history, come into view as one drives through Moscow Region’s Mozhaisk District. The imposing monuments, standing on adjacent fields, include stone steles/obelisks decorated with crosses or sculptured eagles. The battle involved Russian forces fighting Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grande Armee which had invaded Russia in June 1812.
Russia will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino in 2012. This became the largest engagement of the 1812 Patriotic War and one of the bloodiest battles in Russia’s entire history. The battle took place on August 26 (September 7 Old Style) near Borodino village, 125 kilometers west of Moscow. Borodino Field is now a large museum-reserve and a Russian military glory memorial.
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A monument to Field Marshal Mikhail Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Commander in Chief of the First and Second Russian Armies, can be seen at the approaches to the Borodino Field. Kutuzov commanded the Russian forces from this location during the Battle of Borodino. A phrase from Kutuzov’s report to Emperor Alexander I on the battle’s results, “The enemy has been repulsed everywhere,” is engraved below the bas-relief.
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A view of Borodino Field.
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This is the main monument to Russian soldiers, heroes of the Battle of Borodino, at the Rayevsky Battery. The monument’s cornerstone was laid in August 1837, on the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, by Tsesarevich (Crown Prince) Alexander, the future Russian Emperor Alexander II. This was the first monument to be built on the Borodino Field. Demolished in 1932, the monument was rebuilt in 1987. The monument’s height including the cross is 27.5 meters. Its sides contain data on the strength of the Russian Army and Napoleon’s Grande Armee on the day of the battle.
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This is a monument to the Fourth Cavalry Corps of Cavalry General Karl Sivers, who received the Order of St. George for his exploits during the Battle of Borodino.
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This monument to the Russian Imperial Guard’s Artillery Brigade was unveiled in 1912 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino.
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Major General Alexander Tuchkov was among the tens of thousands of Russian soldiers killed in the Battle of Borodino. Tuchkov held a banner while exhorting his regiment to attack. Tuchkov’s widow, who was unable to find her husband’s body among countless other bodies, had the Church of the Vernicle Image of the Savior built at the place of his death. She later took the veil and eventually became the first Mother Superior of the Borodino Convent of Our Savior, built around the church.
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A pond on the convent’s territory.
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The convent’s bell-tower.
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The Church of the Beheading of St. John, Glorious Prophet, Precursor and Baptist, was built in 1874 to a design by an unknown architect. The construction project was financed by donations from Emperor Alexander II.
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After many years of desolation, the Borodino Convent of Our Savior was reopened in 1992.
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A picturesque road leads toward the Borodino Convent of Our Savior.
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Over a hundred years later, in October 1941, Borodino once again became the site of intensive fighting. Soviet forces defended this sector against the Nazis, as they tried to delay the German advance on Moscow.
A panorama of the Borodino Field. History-making episodes of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War are also linked with Borodino. This T-34 tank is a monument dedicated to the soldiers of the Fifth Soviet Army who defended this sector in October 1941.
A panorama of the Borodino Field. History-making episodes of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War are also linked with Borodino. This T-34 tank is a monument dedicated to the soldiers of the Fifth Soviet Army who defended this sector in October 1941.
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© RIA Novosti . Tatiana Shevtsova
Trenches and pillboxes recall the fighting during the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.
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With the construction of the Moscow–Smolensk-Brest rail line in the 1860s and the 1870s, Borodino station became the gateway to Borodino Field. A museum dedicated to the 1812 Patriotic War was established inside the railway-station building on the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino in 1902. The station building was reconstructed in 2002 prior to the 190th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino. An exhibition called “The Borodino Field: Its Past and Present” was opened in one of its halls dedicated to the Museum of 1812.
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Artist Anatoly Shepelyuk. “Mikhail Kutuzov at His Command Center During the Battle of Borodino.” 1951.
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Unknown artist. “Portrait of General Nikolai Rayevsky.” Copy of portrait by artist George Dow.
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A full-dress uniform worn by junior personnel of the Reval Regiment.
