![Plersch Night illumination of Kaniów](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Plersch_Night_illumination_of_Kani%C3%B3w.jpg)
The Crimean journey of Catherine the Great (russian: Путешествие Екатерины II в Крым, also known as Таврический вояж (
Taurida
The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' ( gr, Ταυρική or Ταυρικά), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' ( gr, Χερσόνησος Ταυρική, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the ...
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
Novorossiya, literally "New Russia", is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine: the region immediately north of the Black Sea and Crimea. ...
and
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, gained as a result of the victorious wars against the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
(
1735–39 and
1768–74) and peace treaties with the
Cossack Hetmanate
The Cossack Hetmanate ( uk, Гетьманщина, Hetmanshchyna; or ''Cossack state''), officially the Zaporizhian Host or Army of Zaporizhia ( uk, Військо Запорозьке, Viisko Zaporozke, links=no; la, Exercitus Zaporoviensis) ...
followed by the forced liquidation of free
Zaporozhian Sich
The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Co ...
.
The trip was carried out with her court and several ambassadors. During the trip, she met with the Austrian emperor
Joseph II
Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
, travelling incognito. The trip was arranged by
Grigory Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...
, a favorite and lover of Catherine II. The trip happened when the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) was just about to erupt.
Since these times, the expression "
Potemkin village
In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (russian: link=no, потёмкинские деревни, translit=potyómkinskiye derévni}) is any construction (literal or figurative) whose sole purpose is to provide an external façade to a co ...
" came into being, referring to the legend
"Did "Potemkin villages" really exist?"
''Straight Dope
"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 i ...
'' about fake villages hastily erected by Potemkin along the Catherine's route in order to impress the Empress.
References
Further reading
Russian translation
of the memoir of Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur
Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur (10 December 175327 August 1830) was a French diplomat and historian.
Biography
Ségur was born in Paris, the son of Philippe Henri, marquis de Ségur and Louise Anne Madeleine de Vernon. He entered the army in ...
who took the trip as a French ambassador; see als
here
Catherine the Great
1787 in the Russian Empire
Crimea in the Russian Empire
Voyages
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