Crimean journey of Catherine the Great

1787 visit to the newly acquired New Russia and Crimea

Map of the Crimean Journey of Catherine the Great A night illumination in honor of Catherine the Great on the Dnieper River

The Crimean journey of Catherine the Great (Russian: Путешествие Екатерины II в Крым), also known as Таврический вояж (Taurida Voyage) at the time, was a six-month (January 2, 1787 – July 11, 1787) inspection trip of Catherine II of Russia to the newly acquired lands of New Russia and Crimea, gained as a result of the victorious wars against the Ottoman Empire (1735–39 and 1768–74) and peace treaties with the Cossack Hetmanate followed by the forced liquidation of the free Zaporozhian Sich.

The trip was carried out with her court and several ambassadors. Among them the French ambassador, Louis Philippe, Comte de Ségur.[1] During the trip, she met with the Austrian emperor Joseph II, traveling incognito. The trip was arranged by Grigory Potemkin, a favorite and former lover of Catherine II. The trip happened just prior to the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792).[2]

The trip is the origin of the expression Potemkin village, referring to the legend[3] of fake villages hastily erected by Potemkin along Catherine's route in order to impress her.

## References

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1. ^ Pierre-Marie-Maurice-Henri, Marquis de Ségur: Le Maréchal de Ségur (1724–1801), E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Imprimeurs-Éditeurs, rue Garancière no. 10, Paris, 1895, p. 290
2. ^ Alexander Brückner, Potyomkin, С.-Петербург. Издание К.Л. Риккера 1891, Chapter V: Путешествие Екатерины (1787 г.) Archived 2008-01-09 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Did "Potemkin villages" really exist?", Straight Dope

## Further reading

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* Russian translation of the memoir of Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur who took the trip as a French ambassador; see also here

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