Panorama "Defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855" is one of the most famous examples of battle painting in the world. A huge picturesque painting measuring 115 by 14 meters is devoted to the assault on June 6, 1855. Nearly four thousand figures are drawn on the canvas, including famous participants in those events Admiral Nakhimov, intelligence man Pyotr Koshka, the first Russian sister of mercy Dasha of Sevastopol, surgeon Pirogov. Due to the scale of the canvas, it creates the effect of presence in the battle at the top of Malakhov Kurgan.
The canvas of the panorama "Defense of Sevastopol" was painted by artist Franz Roubaud and his team. The work took three years. The artist sketched in Sevastopol, and the main work was in his studio in Munich. By the anniversary of 1905 a white stone round building was built on the Historical Boulevard of Sevastopol especially for the picture. During the Second World War the panorama was seriously damaged. It was restored only by 1954. Some episodes, for example, with the surgeon Pirogov, were completed by Soviet artists. The panorama was reopened by the 100th anniversary of the defense in 1954. On the ground floor of the building there is an exhibition dedicated to the Crimean War, to the creation and reconstruction of the battle canvas.