Catherine's Crimean journey and the 'Potemkin villages'

Name: Catherine's Crimean journey and the 'Potemkin villages'
Start: 1787
Location: New Russia and Crimea

1787 · New Russia and Crimea · Eastern Europe & Russia · Culture

The famous fake villages were most likely a rumour

In 1787 Catherine II spent six months touring New Russia and Crimea with foreign envoys. The tale of fake villages Potemkin supposedly moved along her route came from the Saxon diplomat Helbig, who was not on the trip. Historians call it a myth: Potemkin decorated real towns, openly.

State: Russian Empire

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century

Did you know

Potemkin's fake villages most likely never existed. The story of painted façades along the Dnieper was spread by the Saxon diplomat Helbig, who was not on Catherine's 1787 journey himself. Share →

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