The Hermitage

Kirillov Gordey, Ivanova Nastya

The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As one of the largest and oldest museums in

the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852.

Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items, including the

largest collection of paintings in the world.

The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a

former residence of Russian emperors.

Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the

eastern wing of the General Staff Building are also part of the museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad.

Of six buildings of the main museum complex, four, named the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New

Hermitage, are partially open to the public. The other two are the Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House.

In this museum you can see a lot of pictures of famous artists, masterpieces of prominent sculptors and unknown ancient

craftsmen. For the young visitors there are special school centre and youth educational centre. For the adults there are theme

and overview tours and lectures on different topics.