The Great Fire of Moscow, which raged for five harrowing days in September 1812, brought the Russian capital to its knees during the Napoleonic invasion.
Beginning on the 14 of September, soon after French forces entered the city, the fire consumed nearly 75% of Moscow, turning palaces, homes, and cultural landmarks into smouldering ruins.
The flames, which some believe were deliberately ignited by retreating Russian forces to deny Napoleon any comfort, claimed the lives of an estimated 12,000 people.
By the time the fire finally burned out, it had left Moscow a ghostly skeleton of its former self, deeply crippling the French army’s occupation plans and symbolising the unyielding Russian spirit in the face of invasion.
