The formidable Russian empress — who reigned from 1762 to 1796 after overthrowing her own husband, Peter III — understood ...

In 1745, after being received into the Russian Orthodox Church, and changing her name to Catherine, she married Grand Duke Peter, grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the Russian throne.

Taken from Catherine at birth and raised by his great aunt, Empress Elizabeth ... He is also the man responsible for killing Catherine’s deposed husband Peter III in a drunken brawl. While he poses a ...

In 1717, Peter the Great commissioned a building for his wife, Catherine, who succeeded him after his death, but her namesake palace only began taking on its grand stature in 1743, when their ...