Catherine the Great's Journeys: The Tauride Voyage of 1787

In 1787, Catherine the Great embarked on an unprecedented six-month journey through her newly annexed territories in the south, a spectacle of imperial power known as the Tauride Voyage. Accompanied by foreign ambassadors and a retinue of thousands, she traveled down the Dnieper River to Crimea, visiting the newly founded cities of Kherson, Sevastopol, and Yekaterinoslav. This episode explores the logistics of the voyage, the dazzling displays orchestrated by Grigory Potemkin, and the legendary 'Potemkin villages' — were they real or propaganda? We also delve into the secret diplomatic maneuvering with Austria's Emperor Joseph II, the encounter with the Tatar nobility in Bakhchysarai, and the grand naval review at Inkerman. Along the way, we examine how Catherine used this journey to project Russian power, legitimize her Greek Project, and cement her legacy as the 'Semiramis of the North.' #CatherineTheGreat #TaurideVoyage #Potemkin #Crimea #DnieperRiver #GreekProject #RussianEmpire #18thCentury #ImperialRussia #Sevastopol #Kherson #Bakhchysarai #JosephII #PotemkinVillages #NavalReview #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo