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Why the
Hermitage Museum
is special
The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, is one of the world's four greatest museums (the other
three being the Louvre, Metropolitan, and British).
Hermitage Museum
tips and insights
 It
consists of a complex of connecting buildings along the River Neva in St.
Petersburg. The grandest and most significant one is the Winter Palace, the
formal royal residence of Russian Tzars from the 18th to early 20th centuries.
The
Hermitage Museum has three million works of arts and treasures,
dating from the Stone Age to modern times. Only a tiny fraction are on public
view in its several hundred halls.
The
works were collected over two centuries, beginning in 1764 when Catherine the
Great purchased over 200 exceptional paintings in Western Europe.
Since
then, more superlative paintings and statues have been acquired, including those by famous Italian
Renaissance, Dutch, Flemish and Impressionist artists (Gaugin, da Vinci,
Matisse, Michelangelo, Manet, Monet, Picasso, Rafael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rodin,
Rubens, Titian, Van Gogh, to name a few).
The
Hermitage Museum has many other types of artistic treasures. For example, there
are the Fabergé jewelry collection and the royal carriages (see photo).
The
Hermitage's Baroque-style building architecture is itself a tour de force, a
treasure of Russia.
The
interior is lavishly decorated with stunning staircases, chandeliers, walls,
floors and ceilings (as would befit a tzar).
The
Hermitage Museum draws about 3 millions visitors per year.
Wait
lines can be long, both inside and outside. I strongly recommend to come
weekdays, not weekends - and to be among first to arrive.
Better yet, book a
tour in advance with a reliable travel organization such as
DenRus that can get you inside the Hermitage
before the crowds pour in.
The
Hermitage Museum has expanded beyond St. Petersburg, Russia. It has launched small branches in London, Amsterdam and (this may
surprise you) Las Vegas.
View my other top 100
Wonders of the World
 
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