During and after the reign of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, whose long rule led to the modernisation of the Russian Empire, many urban legends arose, some legends based on true events, concerning her sexual behaviour.

The Crimean journey of Catherine the Great, also known as Таврический вояж (Taurida 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 and Crimea, gained as a result of the victorious wars against the Ottoman Empire (1735–39 and 1768–74) and peace treaties with the Cossack Hetmanate followed by the forced liquidation of the free Zaporozhian Sich.