Russia Saint Petersburg State Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia. The state Hermitage Museum is one of the first must-see places for tourists in St. Petersburg.

The state Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is an art, cultural and historical Museum, stunning in its scope. It is considered to be one of the best museums in the world. There you can see historical and artistic masterpieces of different eras, ranging from Paleolithic era to the our days, collected from all over the world

Historical information

The name of the Museum “Hermitage” (from Franz. “ermitage”) means “hermit’s dwelling”, “secluded corner”. The name is associated with the location of the first collections bought by Empress Catherine II of Russia. The paintings were located in a building near Winter Palace, which is called the Small Hermitage now. The small Hermitage consists of two pavilions and two galleries surrounding the Hanging garden. The architect created a room with two lifting tables in the Northern pavilion. Tables were lifted by machinery from the ground floor. Selected circle of persons dined here without servants. This room was called the Hermitage.

The Hermitage collection was available for viewing to a small circle of people until the mid-19th century.

Now the complex occupies 5 buildings on the Palace embankment: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, the New Ermita, the Hermitage theatre.

Expositions 

The scale of the Hermitage is amazing. It will take around 20 km of walking  in order to get around the entire exposition. It is very difficult to describe the impressions of visiting the Hermitage Museum in Russia. The luxury and splendor are revealed to the eye from the first steps its Royal Jordanian staircase. Time seems to stop when you get into the beautiful and majestic halls filled with precious stones, sarcophagi of Egyptian pharaohs, masterpieces of brilliant masters of European painting and sculpture, a variety of decorative arts. 

There are more than three million exhibits, including 16,000 paintings. The expositions presented in the Museum can be divided into 6 categories:

1. primitive culture; 
2. ancient world;
3. cultures of the peoples of the East;
4. history of Russian culture;
5. numismatics;
6. Western European art.

Hundreds of paintings and sculptures, dozens of different types of furniture, porcelain, silverware, weapons are exhibited in the sections of Western European art. Rare collections are available in the East section. Also visitors can find monuments of ancient civilizations. There are many famous works of art and collections that you will not see anywhere else in the world.

Where is the Hermitage museum located

It is necessary to expect that you will spend at least 4 hours there. If you don’t know where the Hermitage Museum is located, the following information is for you:

The nearest metro stations are Nevsky Prospekt, Gostiny Dvor and Admiralteyskaya. You will get to Nevsky Prospekt from metro, and then you have to go to the Neva River, move towards the spire of the Admiralty. The winter Palace is located to the right of the Admiralty.