Borodino, Moscow's fire and Venice's birth

7 September 1812 — the Battle of Borodino, the largest battle of the Patriotic War. Lermontov's poem and Tolstoy's novel made 0812 part of Russian cultural DNA.

In 812, Venice was officially recognised as the capital of the lagoon duchy — the city on water that would survive a thousand years as an independent republic.

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (1880) is performed with real cannon fire and bells — one of few classical works requiring artillery.