On the eve of the centenary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, the famous photographer Prokudin-Gorsky created a series of images dedicated to the events of those distant years. In 1911, he captured Mozhaysk and Borodino, and in 1912, he visited Maloyaroslavets and embarked on a journey through the western provinces of Russia.

Prokudin-Gorsky's photographs are of significant interest as they depict monuments that were later destroyed by the communist authorities. Among them are the monument on the central height in Borodino with the grave of Bagration and the monument in Polotsk. The color photographs of Vitebsk and the surrounding villages, where battles with the Grand Army took place, are also of great interest. In these images, one can see the remnants of the Semyonovskaya flashes, the redoubts of the Russian army, the site of General Tuchkov's death, Bagration's grave, monasteries, shrines, cathedrals, and monuments that once served as places of reverence for the feats of Russian soldiers.

See how the legendary battlefield looked through the eyes of our ancestors in color!