Catherine II is remembered as one of the greatest reformers of Russia. Catherine was born a German princess in one of the tiny German states, but nevertheless she turned out to be a powerful and enlightened ruler of the vast Russian Empire. After her coronation on September 22, 1762 at the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin in Moscow, she quickly began making changes in government and society. She continued the process of Westernization begun by Peter the Great and made Russia a great European power. She built marvelous new monuments across Russia and transformed St. Petersburg…
