Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Location Borodino is 130km west of Moscow.
SIGHTS
HISTORIC SITE
BORODINO FIELD
( www.borodino.ru )
The entire battlefield - more than 100 sq km - is now the Borodino Field Museum-Pre-
serve , basically vast fields dotted with dozens of memorials to specific divisions and gener-
als (most erected at the centenary of the battle in 1912). The hilltop monument about 400m
in front of the museum is Bagration's tomb (), the grave of Prince Bagration, a heroic Ge-
orgian infantry general who was mortally wounded in battle.
The front line was roughly along the 4km road from Borodino village to the train station:
you'll see many monuments close to the road.
Further south, a concentration of monuments around Semyonovskoe marks the battle's
most frenzied fighting. Here, Bagration's heroic Second Army, opposing far more numerous
French forces, was virtually obliterated. Apparently, Russian commander Mikhail Kutuzov
deliberately sacrificed Bagration's army to save his larger First Army, opposing lighter
French forces in the northern part of the battlefield. Kutuzov's headquarters are marked by
an obelisk in the village of Gorky. Another obelisk near Shevardino to the southwest, paid
for in 1912 with French donations, marks Napoleon's camp .
This battle scene was re-created during WWII, when the Red Army confronted the Nazis
on this very site. Memorials to this battle also dot the fields, and WWII trenches surround
the monument to Bagration. Near the train station are two WWII mass graves.
MUSEUM
BORODINO MUSEUM
( GOOGLE MAP ; www.borodino.ru ; R50;
10am-5pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 9am-3.30pm Tue-Sun Nov-
Mar)
The museum is an excellent starting place, as you can study an interactive diorama of the
battle before setting out to see the site in person. Otherwise, the main exhibits feature origin-
al objects from the battle, including uniforms, weapons, documents and personal items. The
displays, created by soldiers and their contemporaries, demonstrate the perception of the
war and the battle at the time. There is also an exhibit dedicated to the WWII battle at this
site.
MUSEUM
SAVIOUR BORODINO MONASTERY
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