Plans for the articles “Bloody days in Moscow” and “Political strike and street struggle in Moscow” 1 Events in Moscow Friday – Saturday – Sunday – Monday – Tuesday 6–7–8–9–10. X. 1905 Art. (27. IX.).Strike of typesetters + bakers + beginning of a general strike.+ Students. 154 Speech

The answer seems to be simple - with Poklonnaya. Everyone knows that shortly after the Battle of Borodino, on the sunny morning of September 2, 1812, Napoleon, standing on Poklonnaya Hill, was waiting for a deputation of Moscow residents with the keys to the city. Many books, paintings and illustrations have been written on this topic. Everything seems simple, but even many of those who know the history of these places will not be able to indicate where Napoleon shown in the paintings stood.

Let's find out...

Innocent girl at Napoleon's feet

Here is probably the most famous colorful description of Napoleon’s inspection of Moscow from Poklonnaya Hill, presented by Leo Tolstoy in the third volume of War and Peace:

Moscow from Poklonnaya Hill spread out spaciously with its river, its gardens and churches and seemed to live its own life, trembling like stars with its domes in the rays of the sun.

At the sight of a strange city with unprecedented forms of extraordinary architecture, Napoleon experienced that somewhat envious and restless curiosity that people experience when they see the forms of an alien life that does not know about them. Obviously, this city lived with all the forces of its life. By those indefinable signs by which a living body is unmistakably distinguished from a dead one at a long distance, Napoleon from Poklonnaya Hill saw the fluttering of life in the city and felt, as it were, the breath of this large and beautiful body.

Cette ville Asiatique aux innombrables églises, Moscow la sainte. La voilà donc enfin, cette fameuse ville! Il était temps (This Asian city with countless churches, Moscow, their holy Moscow! Here it is, finally, this famous city! It’s time!), - said Napoleon and, dismounting from his horse, ordered the plan of this Moscou to be laid out in front of him and called the translator Lelorgne d"Ideville. “Une ville occupée par l"ennemi ressemble à une fille qui a perdu son honneur” (“A city occupied by the enemy is like a girl who has lost her virginity”), he thought (as he said this to Tuchkov in Smolensk) . And from this point of view, he looked at the oriental beauty lying in front of him, whom he had never seen before.

It was strange to him that his long-standing desire, which seemed impossible to him, had finally come true. In the clear morning light he looked first at the city, then at the plan, checking the details of this city, and the certainty of possession excited and terrified him.

Poklonnaya Gora is no longer a mountain; only one name remains. Where is this remarkable place located? Why can’t we enjoy this view now? Let's try to determine where Napoleon looked at Moscow from.

Modern Poklonnaya Mountain is a different mountain

The name of the place is known to everyone - Poklonnaya Gora. But, as you know, there is no mountain there now! Flipping through old maps of Moscow, you can see how much this area has changed.

Poklonnaya Gora can be found on many modern maps and maps of Soviet times. For example, where was the peak of a considerable height by Moscow standards - 170.5 meters, designated as Poklonnaya Gora on the 1968 map. Now Poklonnaya Gora is usually called the place where the Victory Monument is erected. The height of the monument is 141.8 meters - 10 centimeters for each day of the Great Patriotic War. After numerous scandals, this monument was erected in 1995. Everyone knows that the monument was erected on a fairly flat place, there is no mountain there, it was cut down almost to the roots around 1987. As can be seen by comparing the 1968 map with satellite images, the position of the Victory Monument roughly corresponds to the peak indicated as Poklonnaya Gora with a height of 170.5 meters on the 1968 map.

Poklonnaya Gora on the map of 1968 - the Victory Monument is now in this place:

(All presented maps are clickable for detailed viewing)

Did Napoleon stand on Poklonnaya Hill at the site of today's Victory Monument? No!

This was not the same Poklonnaya Hill from which Napoleon looked at Moscow!

Where was the “real” Poklonnaya Hill?

The thing is that the area, traditionally called Poklonnaya Gora, was originally a large hill with two noticeable peaks. Until the 1940s, Poklonnaya Gora on maps indicated the peak, which was located approximately 700 meters northeast of today’s Victory Monument. The position of this peak can be seen on many old maps, such as those below topographic maps and years (click maps for detailed view). The two peaks were separated from each other by one of the tributaries of the Setun flowing in a ravine. If Napoleon had looked at Moscow from “today’s” Poklonnaya Hill, then in those years the view of the city would have been blocked by the northwestern peak. Napoleon would hardly have chosen such a point to explore the city.

"Old" and "New" Poklonnaya Mountains on the map of 1860:

Position of Poklonnaya Gora on the 1848 map relative to the Victory Monument:

How would Napoleon see the “oriental beauty” today?

Therefore, there is every reason to believe that Napoleon looked at the city from the “old” Poklonnaya Hill, marked on maps of the 1800s. This peak (and, accordingly, Napoleon) was located approximately in the place where the farthest corner of house 16 on Kutuzovsky Prospekt is now located.

As Tolstoy wrote, “And from this point he looked at the oriental beauty lying in front of him, whom he had never seen before.”

This is how the beauty turned out now.

Used maps and images from the site

“On the fourteenth of September, Napoleon mounted his horse a few miles from Moscow. He rode slowly, with caution, forcing him to inspect the forests and ditches ahead of him and climb onto hills in order to discover the location of the enemy army. We were waiting for the battle. The terrain was suitable. We could see the trenches that had been started, but everything was abandoned and there was not the slightest resistance to us. Finally, it remained to cross the last hill adjacent to Moscow and dominating it.

This was Poklonnaya Hill, so named because on its top, upon seeing the holy city, all residents cross themselves and bow to the ground. Our scouts immediately occupied this mountain. It was two o’clock,” Napoleon’s adjutant Segur described what was happening.

The French emperor was in no hurry to enter the Mother See ahead of his army on a white horse. Armed with a telescope, he was on Poklonnaya Hill. Napoleon's stay on Poklonnaya Hill was not caused by a simple desire to survey Moscow from a telescope - how many cities did he see in this way during his life? military career! The commander of the “Great Army” was waiting here for the keys to Moscow, as well as “bread and salt”, according to Russian custom. However, time passed, and still there were no keys. Then Napoleon decided to do an equally important matter: to immortalize his first day in Moscow by immediately writing letters to Parisian officials. How Napoleon wanted to immediately, this very minute, announce that Moscow, like many capitals of Europe, had “officially” fallen at his feet. But there were still no keys!

At first, he tried to reassure himself and his entourage, saying that the surrender of Moscow was a completely new thing for Muscovites, which is why they hesitated with the keys, apparently choosing from among themselves the best deputies for the visit to Napoleon.

But his patience was not unlimited. Already several officers who had previously been sent by him to Moscow returned with nothing: “The city is completely empty, your imperial majesty!” One of the officers brought to Napoleon a kind of “deputation” - five tramps he had somehow caught in Moscow. Napoleon’s reaction was peculiar: “Aha! The Russians do not yet realize what an impression the capture of the capital should have on them!”

Bonaparte decided that since the Russians were not coming on their own, then it was necessary to bring them: “Empty Moscow! This is incredible! Go to the city, find the boyars there and bring them to me with the keys!” - he ordered his generals. But not a single boyar (to the emperor’s disappointment) was found in Moscow - if Napoleon had known that the last boyar was seen in Moscow a hundred years before the events described, he probably would not have been so upset. In the end, the emperor still waited. True, not keys, but deputations. But this delegation was not at all the one he had so hoped to receive. A group of Moscow residents of French origin came to Poklonnaya Hill, seeking protection from Napoleon from looters.

Before Moscow - awaiting the deputation of the boyars. Hood. V.V. Vereshchagin. 1891–1892

Among those who fell at Napoleon’s feet were the Moscow University lecturer Villers, the caretaker of the university museum Richard, a couple of booksellers, the manager of Vsevolozhsky’s printing house Lamour and other suspicious individuals. The Moscow French did not hide their joy at the arrival of the “Great Army” in Moscow. Today we wonder where this “group of comrades” who speak fluent English could have come from. French. After all, the Governor General of Moscow Fyodor Rostopchin Special attention dedicated to the removal of foreigners from Moscow - not only the French, but also the Germans were ordered to leave, etc. This means that not everyone was taken out...

Since Napoleon had no one else to talk to, he had to listen to words of gratitude from his own compatriots: “The Muscovites were seized with panic at the news of Your Majesty’s solemn approach! And Rostopchin left on August 31!” – Lamour reported. Hearing about Rostopchin’s departure, Napoleon expressed surprise: “What, he left before the battle?” Emperor, meaning battle of Borodino, apparently, forgot that Muscovites, like all Russians, lived according to a calendar that differed from the European calendar by as much as twelve days!

Napoleon's awareness of the fact that he was left without the keys, that Moscow did not surrender to him the way he would have liked and as it was in Vienna and Berlin, when the authorities European capitals they presented him with the keys on a silver platter, infuriated Bonaparte. Adjutants and generals had never seen him like this: Napoleon did not stand still with his arms crossed (his favorite pose), but literally rushed about, now putting on a glove, now taking it off his hand, now taking out, now hiding a handkerchief in his pocket. And for some reason he was also pulling his... nose.

The French emperor lost more than two hours on Poklonnaya Hill, never understanding why the Russians didn’t bring him the keys to their city? But a simple sergeant of his army, Adrien Burgogne, if he did not realize, then turned out to be very close to understanding this reason: “On this day, I was assigned to guard several officers who remained in captivity after the Battle of Borodino. Many of them spoke French. Among them was, by the way, an Orthodox priest, probably a regimental priest, who also spoke French very well; he seemed sadder and more preoccupied than all his fellow sufferers. I noticed, like many others, that when we climbed the hill, all the prisoners bowed their heads and made the sign of worship several times. sign of the cross. I approached the priest and inquired what this manifestation meant. “Sir,” he answered, “the mountain on which we are located is called “Poklonnaya,” and every good Muscovite, upon seeing the shrines of the city, is obliged to cross himself.”

This is what Poklonnaya Hill meant to Muscovites, which historian Ivan Zabelin called “the most memorable place in our history and remarkable in its topography,” from the height of which “since ancient times the Russian people have been accustomed to pay homage to Mother Moscow.” If Napoleon had learned this, he would never have thought of waiting here for the keys to the Mother See of the Capital!

With what joy the French looked at the Mother See through their eyepieces! The abundance of golden domes of the city of “forty forties” made a strong impression on them. Not a single conquered capital struck them with its beauty as much as Moscow! True, the all-knowing emperor immediately explained to his soldiers that the crowd of churches is nothing more than evidence of the lack of enlightenment of this dense and Asian people.

How did the French see Moscow in early September 1812? The fantastic picture that opened before them amazed them. Let's give the floor to the participants in Napoleonic's campaign against Russia.

General Philippe Paul de Segur: “This capital, rightly called by poets “Golden-domed Moscow,” represented a vast and strange collection of 295 churches, 150 palaces with their gardens and outbuildings. Stone palaces, interspersed with wooden houses and even huts, were scattered over an area of ​​several square miles, on uneven ground. The houses were grouped around a raised triangular fortress, surrounded by a wide double wall, about half a mile in circumference.

Within one enclosure there were numerous palaces and churches and empty spaces paved with small stones; inside the other there was an extensive bazaar - it was a city of merchants, where the wealth of the four parts of the world was collected.

These buildings, these palaces right down to the shops, were all covered with polished and painted iron. The churches at the top had a terrace and several bell towers topped with golden domes. The crescent and cross were reminiscent of the entire history of this people. It was Asia and its religion, first victorious and then defeated, and the crescent of Mohammed subdued by the cross of Christ! One ray of sunshine was enough for this magnificent city to sparkle with a wide variety of colors. At the sight of him, the traveler stopped, amazed and delighted. This city reminded him of the wonderful descriptions in the stories of oriental poets, which he liked so much in childhood. If he penetrated inside the fence, then his surprise increased even more under the influence of observation. He saw the manners and customs of modern Europe among the nobles, heard speeches among them in different languages and noticed the richness and elegance of their clothing.

Moscow deputies. Hood. B.V. Zvorykin. 1912

He looked with surprise at the Asian luxury and order of the merchants, at the Greek attire of the people and their long beards. In the buildings he was struck by the same diversity, and yet everything bore a peculiar local imprint, sometimes quite rude, as befitted Muscovy.”

Sergeant of the Fusilier Grenadier Regiment of the Young Guard Adrien Jean Baptiste Francois Bourgogne: “On September 2nd (14th), at one o’clock in the afternoon, passing through a large forest, we saw a hill in the distance and reached it in half an hour. The leading soldiers, who had already climbed the hill, made signs to those lagging behind, shouting to them: “Moscow! Moscow!" Indeed, a great city appeared ahead - there we hoped to rest from the tiring campaign, since we, the imperial guard, had traveled more than 1,200 leagues without resting anywhere.

It was a beautiful summer day: the sun was playing on the domes, bell towers, and gilded palaces. Many of the capitals I saw: Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna and Madrid - made an ordinary impression on me; here it’s a different matter: for me, as for everyone else, there was something magical in this spectacle.

At that moment everything was forgotten: dangers, labors, fatigue, deprivation - and all one thought about was the pleasure of entering Moscow, settling into comfortable apartments for the winter and taking up victories of a different kind - such is the character of the French warrior: from battle to love, from love to battle."

Lieutenant Caesar de Laugier: “This morning, outside the village of Cherepovo, as we approached Khoroshev, while the sappers were throwing a bridge across the Moscow River for the third crossing, several of our scouts managed to climb one hill... the last one! A new world, as they literally say, has opened up to them. The beautiful capital, under the rays of the bright sun, glowed with thousands of colors, groups of gilded domes, high bell towers, unprecedented monuments. Mad with joy, clapping their hands, our people, breathless, shout: “Moscow! Moscow!" I cannot, of course, express our impression better and more beautifully at the sight of this city than by recalling the poems of Tass, when in the third song he depicts the army of Godfrey of Bouillon, who saw the towers of Jerusalem for the first time.

At the name of Moscow, passed from mouth to mouth, everyone rushes forward in a crowd, climbing the hill from where we heard this loud cry. Everyone wants to be the first to see Moscow. Their faces lit up with joy. The soldiers were transformed. We hug and raise our hands to the sky in gratitude; many are crying with joy, and from everywhere you hear: “Finally! Finally Moscow!

We never tire of looking at the huge city with its varied and bizarre shapes, with domes covered with lead or slate; palaces with flowering terraces, pointed towers, countless bell towers, make us think that we are on the border of Asia.”