Catherine the Great © Catherine II was Empress of Russia for more than 30 years and one of the country’s most influential rulers.

Once the upstart foreigner stole Russia’s throne, there was no stopping her enlightened reforms, her empire's expansion, and her pursuit of love and legacy. Holding courtCatherine II of Russia makes a ...

ODESA, Ukraine - A large monument to former Russian empress Catherine the Great was removed from a central square in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and replaced with the flag of Ukraine. Video from ...

For Catherine the Great, jewelry was about much more than adornment. The formidable Russian empress — who reigned from 1762 to 1796 after overthrowing her own husband, Peter III — understood that ...

Part One: Extreme makeover. This heavy thing ; The brightest star of the North ; The ambrosia of Asia ; Collecting debut ; Building frenzy ; My falcon, my golden pheasant -- Part Two: Russia is a ...

The Trump-Putin summit will take place in a former Russian colony that the United States bought for $7.2 million in 1867. Here’s how the deal came together and why its legacy matters. By Mike Ives In ...

Catherine the Great is celebrated as one of the leading monarch of the enlightenment era, who believed in improving the welfare of the Russian people and investing in the arts. But there's another ...

Biographer Robert Massie explains how Catherine II read books to escape the misery of her unhappy marriage. When she became empress in 1762, she... Catherine The Great: First She Read, Then She Ruled ...

The three million strong collection which is housed in six buildings, anchored by the 1,000 room Winter Palace, was founded by the empress of Russia’s Golden Age after she purchased a small collection ...