Hermitage St.-Petersburg

The Hermitage

    Address:
34 Dvortsovaya nab.,
Open: 10.30 - 17.00, SUN till 16.00
Closed on MON.
Actual visit approx. 2,5 hours.

The Winter Palace is one of the buildings that make up the Hermitage, the fabulously rich treasure house of art whose collections are world-renowned. The museum's oldest department is that of Western European art, represented by da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Rembrandt and others. The Antique Art section boasts a collection of ancient sculptures and archeological relics.
The Hermitage is the largest art museum in all of Russia and ranks among the most prestigious museums in the world. It was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 as a private court museum and evolved into the most remarkable collection of art in the world containing more than 2.7 million works of art. The Hermitage houses a tremendous collection of Western European art, including such great masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Its collection of Spanish art is second only to Madrid's Prado, and its collection of French art is the largest outside of France, displaying works by Degas, Renoir, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Goguen, and Matisse. At present, the Hermitage is comprised of five buildings, one of which is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars. The state rooms in the Winter Palace are magnificently decorated with marble malachite, jasper, and lapis, which provide a fine background for the Hermitage's many treasures.