Borodino Panorama Museum

The Borodino Panorama Museum was inaugurated in 1962 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the mighty battle fought between the massed French troops of Napoleon and the Russian soldiers under Field Marshal Kutuzov, which took place in August 1812 just 129 kilometers outside Moscow. The museum is built on the historic site of the village of Fili, where legend has it a council of war was held in a small peasant hut to decide the fate of Moscow and indeed the entire country.

The battle lasted for a staggering 15 hours and resulted in unprecedented casualties on both sides, although there is still considerable debate between the nations as to who was ultimately victorious. In the end Kutuzov's Russian troops retreated and the Field Marshal made a decision to surrender Moscow in order to preserve his army.

The museum features an extraordinary 115-meter long circular painting by the Russian artist Franz Roubaud, depicting a particularly dramatic and crucial moment in the battle. Visitors can feel utterly absorbed in the atmosphere of the battle with the help of some authentic sound effects played at high volume to accompany the images in the painting. There are also numerous exhibitions charting the origins of the Napoleonic Wars and the course of the campaign of 1812, displays of copies of original uniforms, banners and weapons as well as paintings and drawings featuring various scenes from the battle. Just outside the museum visitors will find a bronze bust of Kutuzov, a former museum-chapel built to commemorate the centenary of the Patriotic War and an obelisk marking the common grave of some 300 Russia soldiers.

Directly in front of the museum visitors also cannot fail to see the enormous monument built in 1973 to commemorate the heroes of the war of 1812 and topped with an impressive equestrian statue of the Field Marshal. Excursions of the museum are given in Russian, English, French and German.