Plan de la ville capitale de Moscou

Rare French plan of Moscow published shortly after it was put to the torch by Napoleon.

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and subsequent capture of Moscow in 1812 saw nearly three quarters of the buildings in the capital consumed by fire. The rampant destruction would not force the capitulation of Tsar Alexander I, and the French were compelled into a costly retreat in the middle of the Russian winter.

Moscow would soon embark on an ambitious plan of reconstruction overseen by Scotsman William Hastie. The enlargement of Red Square, updates to the water management network, and renovation of the city center are all components of the plan, which was finalized in 1817.

This map was published shortly thereafter, and shows the initial progress of Moscow’s rebuilding. A newly constructed canal and large squares (including Theater Square) surrounding the Kremlin are two of the most obvious examples. French text labels five primary neighborhoods immediately below the title, while a separate legend identifies twenty separate arrondisements; units of political organization in French cities which were likely based on a similar Russian counterpart.

The mapmaker appears to be L.F. Peter, while the publisher is listed as Linerot & Co – perhaps a variant of the Swedish/Finnish term Lonnrot? Both are apparently non-Russian, and their names were transliterated phonetically into Cyrillic. No other examples were found in OCLC or elsewhere.

Reference: Schmidt, A. (1981). The Restoration of Moscow after 1812. Slavic Review, 40(1), 37-48. doi:10.2307/2496426