The main sights of the Hermitage. What to see in the Hermitage? Three tours of the best museum in Europe

illustrious Petersburg Hermitage located in the former palace of Russian monarchs. The huge collection of the famous Russian museum now occupies five buildings: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, the Court Theater and the New Hermitage. At the origins of the huge collections of the Hermitage stood a crowned person - Empress Catherine II. In 1764, 225 paintings were brought to St. Petersburg, owned by a major Berlin businessman I. Gotskovsky. To pay off his debt to the Russian treasury, Gotskovsky offered instead of money his collection of paintings, painted mostly by Dutch and Flemish painters. These canvases so fascinated the Empress that she began to collect paintings. Special people were sent abroad to buy in Europe works of art or even large collections entirely.

In 1769, the collection of Count Brühl, the former Prime Minister of the Elector of Saxony, was brought from Dresden. It included paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Watteau and other excellent artists. In 1772, a magnificent collection of the famous French connoisseur of art, Baron P. Crozat, was bought in Paris. Thus, the Holy Family by Raphael, Danae and several more paintings by Rembrandt, Judith by Giorgione, works by Veronese, Van Dyck, Tintoretto ended up in St. Petersburg ...

Unfortunately, not all the works intended for the collection of the Empress managed to reach St. Petersburg safely. In 1771, paintings by Dutch painters bought in The Hague were lost in a shipwreck. Nevertheless, the collection of Catherine II became larger and more beautiful. The enlightened empress also took care of the proper premises for her paintings. Already in 1764-1767. next to the Winter Palace, designed by architect Zh.B. Wallen-Delamot built a new building, which was connected to the palace by a covered passage. At first, Petersburgers called him by the name of the architect Lamoto Pavilion. But later another name came into use - Small Hermitage.

Photos of the Hermitage

Catherine used the Lamotov Pavilion to communicate with her friends and relatives. Receptions, unlike the front ones, were held here completely unofficially - there were not even servants, and tables with dishes were brought up from the ground floor with the help of special lifting mechanisms. Therefore, the pavilion began to be called the Hermitage- from the French ermitage, which means "hermit's shelter."

In 1774, in French, was published the first catalog of the Hermitage, which already mentioned 2080 paintings. Five years later, the most valuable collection of the former Prime Minister of England, Lord Robert Walpole, was added to the collection, which was sold by his heirs. There were 198 works by the great painters Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck. In 1781, the Count Baudouin's collection of 119 paintings, bought in Paris, appeared in the Hermitage. And besides paintings, the Empress's collection already included engravings, drawings, coins, medals, carved stone items...

The collections became more and more extensive, they needed new premises. Back in 1771, according to the project of the architect Yu.M. Felten began construction the Great Hermitage. It was connected to Maly by a covered walkway. But this palace construction under Catherine II did not end: from 1783 to 1787, Giacomo Quarenghi built the Hermitage Theater. Together with the Winter Palace, as well as the Small and Large Hermitages, it is now part of a single architectural ensemble, stretching along the Neva embankment. Later, already in the middle of the 19th century, under Emperor Nicholas I, the grandson of Catherine II, the building of the New Hermitage was erected, adjoining the Great Hermitage from the inside and overlooking Millionnaya Street. That's why The Great Hermitage became known as the Old Hermitage.

Collections of Catherine II continued to replenish and other Russian emperors. But a tragic event occurred in the history of the Hermitage that almost destroyed all its treasures: On December 17, 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. The flames have already spread to the buildings of the Hermitage. The roof and walls of the Small Hermitage were poured with water, and the passages, windows and doors overlooking the Winter Palace were hastily bricked up. The fire raged for three days, in the end, only a stone frame remained of the Winter Palace, but the rest of the palace buildings survived. A year later, the Winter Palace was completely restored and its halls again sparkled with their former splendor. It was at this time that the construction of the New Hermitage began. It was decided to decorate its facades with statues of poets and scientists of different times, and the mighty atlantes made of gray granite, created by the sculptor A.I. Terebenev, and to this day they hold a balcony on their shoulders.

The New Hermitage was conceived as a museum, accessible not only to the court nobility, but also to ordinary visitors. Therefore, it housed paintings from other buildings of the Hermitage and works specially selected in suburban imperial palaces, as well as Scythian and Greek cultural monuments found in southern Russia during archaeological excavations.

The official opening of the public museum, held February 5, 1852 g., it turned out unusually magnificent. At the Hermitage Theater they gave a performance, and a sumptuous dinner was arranged right in the museum halls. Of course, the first guests of the museum were far from ordinary people. And in the future, passes to the Hermitage were issued on the recommendation of influential people by a special office under the Ministry of the Imperial Court. Visitors were required to come to the museum in tailcoats or ceremonial military uniforms.

What can be seen in the Hermitage today

Free access to the Hermitage was opened only in 1863 under Emperor Alexander II. By 1914, the museum was already visited by 180 thousand people a year. Well, today the bill goes into the millions. Now lovers of beauty are attracted to the Hermitage not only by the richest collection of Western European art, one of the best in the world, but also by the incomparable ceremonial halls of the Winter Palace, decorated with marble, gilding, gems - the Bolshoi, Malachite, Field Marshal's, Petrovsky, Georgievsky .. Adjacent to St. George's Hall is the famous Military Gallery, built in 1826. On its walls there are more than 300 portraits of generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812.

Fortunately, during the fire of 1837, these paintings, like other palace valuables, were taken out of the fire. It is impossible to visit the Hermitage in one day. After all, every visitor, in addition to paintings, certainly tries to see the Raphael Loggias built under Catherine II - a copy of the famous gallery in, painted by the great Italian artist. The Knights' Hall, where samples of medieval weapons and armor are collected, also enjoys special fame. The Hermitage's Golden Treasury contains unique items made by jewelers of the 16th-19th centuries, as well as gold items found by archaeologists in Scythian mounds and on the site of ancient Greek colonies in the Black Sea region.

The State Hermitage, located in St. Petersburg near the Neva River, is without exaggeration known all over the world. This is a museum that is rich in a huge number of exhibits that help to study the development of the world artistic culture and history. It should be noted that the Hermitage as a museum plays a huge role and is not inferior to other museums located abroad.

Uniqueness of the Hermitage

The rich history of this museum began during the reign of Catherine II. As the story goes, the Empress first accepted some of the paintings from a German merchant, who gave them away to pay off his debt. The paintings fascinated Catherine, and she created her own collection, which gradually became larger and larger. The Empress specifically hired people who traveled to Europe to purchase new canvases. When the collection became very large, it was decided to open a public museum, for which a separate building was built.

How many rooms and floors in the Hermitage

The Winter Palace is a three-story building with 1084 rooms. Among the most famous are:

Note! In total, the museum has about 365 rooms. Among them are the Small Dining Room, the Malachite Living Room, the chambers of Maria Alexandrovna. The diagram of the Hermitage halls with names will help the tourist to navigate in all these rooms.

Hermitage: floor plan

The Hermitage is a whole complex, which includes 5 buildings built in different years.

Winter Palace

This is the central building built famous architect B. F. Rastrelli in the second half of the 18th century in the Baroque style. It is necessary to pay tribute to those craftsmen who restored the building after the fires.

On a note. Now inside the Winter Palace, which previously acted as the imperial palace, is the main exposition of the Hermitage. The building is built in the shape of a quadrangle, inside which there is a courtyard.

Small Hermitage

It was built a little later than the Winter Palace. Its architects: Yu. M. Felten and J. B. Vallin-Delamot. It was so named because Catherine 2 spent entertaining evenings here, which were called small hermitages. The building includes 2 pavilions - Northern, which housed winter Garden, and South. Another component of the Small Hermitage is a hanging garden with picturesque compositions.

Big Hermitage

It was built after the Small Hermitage, and since it was larger than it, it got its name. Although this building is made in more strict forms, it fits perfectly into the ensemble and, moreover, complements it. The interiors are decorated with expensive woods, gilding and stucco. Architect - Yuri Felten.

On the second floor of the Great Hermitage there are halls of Italian painting, where you can see the works of outstanding artists: Leonardo da Vinci, Titian or Raphael. Copies of frescoes by the last artist adorn the so-called loggias of Raphael - a gallery located in the Great Hermitage.

Note! Many arches of the gallery divide it into several compartments. The walls are decorated with copies of frescoes. The Apostolic Palace in the Vatican was taken as the basis.

New Hermitage

The main facade of this building is known for its porch. This is a portico that previously served as an entrance. It differs in that it has granite statues of Atlanteans holding a balcony. It took 2 years to work on them. Everything else is made of limestone. The sculptures amaze with fine workmanship and elegance of execution, giving the building a sublime and noble appearance. The building itself was built in neo-Greek style.

Hermitage Theater

Architect - J. Quarenghi, style - classicism. The theater is connected to the rest of the buildings of the complex by an archway where a gallery was opened. Many talented artists performed on this stage, balls were often held here. It should be noted that the theater played an important role in the development cultural life. In the foyer, ceilings from the 18th century have been preserved. The theater hall was inspired by the Italian Teatro Olimpico.

Where can I get the Hermitage guide

In order not to get lost in the huge halls of the Hermitage, next to the ticket offices at the main entrance, a plan of the Hermitage is offered free of charge. It shows the scheme of the Hermitage with all the halls available for visiting, their names and numbers.

Hermitage map

Museum exhibits

How many exhibits are in the Hermitage? Their number exceeds 3 million! This is definitely a huge number. What is in the Hermitage? Among the most unique exhibits from interesting history the following can be distinguished:

• watch "Peacock" in the Hermitage. They were brought by order of Potemkin. The master is D. Cox from England. To deliver the watch in safety, they had to be disassembled. But the subsequent assembly turned out to be quite difficult due to the loss or breakage of parts. And only by the end of the 18th century, the clock started working again, thanks to the efforts of a skilled Russian master. This exhibit strikes with its beauty and luxury: the cage with the owl rotates, and the peacock even spreads its tail;
• Feodosia earrings. The technique that was used to make them is granulation. These are small gold or silver balls that are soldered onto jewelry. These earrings depict a composition showing the competitions in Athens. Although many jewelers tried to replicate this masterpiece, they did not succeed, since the method of creating Theodosian earrings is unknown;
• figure of Peter 1, made from wax. Foreign craftsmen were invited to create it. A red-robed figure sits majestically on a throne.

As a separate exhibit, for which it is also worth visiting this museum, one can name its interiors. Inside the Hermitage, you can see quite majestic, somewhere refined, halls decorated with a variety of elements. Walking on them is a pleasure.

Watch "Peacock"

How many paintings are in the Hermitage

In total, the Hermitage contains about 15,000 different paintings by artists of the 13th-20th centuries. Now such paintings are of great interest and cultural value.

The Hermitage collection began with 225 paintings donated by a German merchant. In the second half of the 18th century, paintings collected by Count Brühl were brought from Germany and paintings from the collection of the French Baron Crozat were bought. Thus, the works of such artists as Rembrandt, Raphael, Van Dyck and others appeared in the museum.

1774 is a memorable date when the first museum catalog was published. It already had over 2,000 paintings. A little later, the collection was replenished with 198 works from the collection of R. Walpole and 119 paintings from Count Baudouin.

On a note. Do not forget that at that time the museum kept not only paintings, but also many memorable items, such as figurines, stone products, coins.

The turning point was the fire of 1837, as a result of which the interiors of the Winter Palace did not survive. However, thanks to the quick work of the masters, a year later the building was restored. The paintings managed to endure, thanks to which the masterpieces of world art did not suffer.

Those who want to visit the Hermitage should definitely see the following canvases:

• Leonardo da Vinci "Madonna Litta"(work of the Renaissance). There are 19 pictures of this in the world famous artist, of which 2 are kept in the Hermitage. This canvas was brought from Italy in the 19th century. The second canvas of this artist is the Benois Madonna, painted with oil paints;
• Rembrandt The Return of the Prodigal Son. The canvas is written based on the Gospel of Luke. In the center is the returned son, kneeling before his father, who graciously receives him. This masterpiece was acquired back in the 18th century;
• V. V. Kandinsky "Composition 6". The canvas of this famous avant-garde artist takes pride of place in the museum. There is even a separate room dedicated to his work. This picture strikes the audience with a riot of colors;
• T. Gainsborough "The Lady in Blue". It is believed that this is a portrait of Countess Elizabeth Beaufort. Her look is very light and natural. Refinement and airiness is achieved with the help of light strokes, a dark background and light colors for the image of a girl;
• Caravaggio "The Lute Player". The details in this picture are worked out to the smallest detail. Both a crack on the lute and notes are depicted. In the middle of the canvas is a young man playing. His face expresses many complex emotions that the author was able to skillfully portray.

Paintings from the Hermitage collection

More detailed information describing what is in the Hermitage can be found on its official website.

The Hermitage can be called one of the most important cultural centers, which is of great importance for the whole world, because here masterpieces of various artists of various times are collected. This is one of the richest and most important collections in the world.

State Museum"Hermitage Museum"- one of the most famous museums, which is located in St. Petersburg, a city that is rightfully called the cultural capital of Russia.

The museum began its existence as an individual collection of works of art by Empress Catherine II, which grew over time. In 1852, it was decided to open the Imperial Hermitage accessible to the public, which eventually became the well-known State Artistic, Cultural and Historical Museum.

The modern Hermitage consists of five buildings combined into a complex museum complex, the center of which is considered to be the Winter Palace.

The Winter Palace is part of the museum complex, which contains more than 3 million works of art available to local residents and visiting guests. Among the exhibits there are such masterpieces as Rembrandt's Haman Knows His Fate, Giorgione's Judith, Jacques-Louis David's Sappho and Phaon, Henri Matisse's The Red Room, Titian Vecellio's The Penitent Magdalene, Leonardo's Benois Madonna and Vinci, as well as many others no less famous paintings, antique sculptures, examples applied art, graphics and painting.

The building of the Hermitage itself can be considered a work of art, the construction of the future museum was carried out by such famous people as Rastrelli (Winter Palace), Felten, Wallen-Delamot, Leo von Klenze and Stasov (Small and Large Hermitage, including the Hanging Garden).

The building of the Winter Palace is rightfully considered the heart of the State Hermitage. Built in 1762 by the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli by decree of Catherine II, the palace remains to this day a reminder of great art both inside and out. The four facades of the building are designed in the Baroque style and are decorated with many stucco details, statues on the roofs, columns, and vases. The windows are framed with unique cornices and other memorable details. Thanks to its collection of exhibits, the State Hermitage Museum is considered "".

For 150 years, the Hermitage was the imperial residence: the interior of the buildings is distinguished by its original splendor and richness. In order to examine in detail each individual exhibit of the museum, even a year is not enough. The tour route through the halls of the Hermitage is more than twenty kilometers, starting with the Jordan Stairs, which leads to a huge hall along the facade of the building, whose windows overlook the Neva.

Portraits of Russian field marshals can be seen in the niches of the hall of the same name.

The legendary silver throne of the Russian tsars is located in the Peter's Hall, and magnificent chandeliers decorated with the coats of arms of the former provinces can be admired in the Armorial Hall. Also in the Hermitage there is a Military Gallery dedicated to the great military leaders of the Russian Empire. Twenty-eight chandeliers and about fifty columns adorn the Great Throne Hall, and bas-reliefs in honor of the victory of 1812 and a large portrait of Alexander I adorn the Alexander Hall.

Participated in the design of the palace premises greatest artists and architects of those times, in particular the Malachite Hall, the columns of which are decorated with malachite coating. It was this room that was the main hall of the imperial family.

Most famous museums Russia in many ways inferior to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, this museum occupies a place of honor not only among the museums of Russia, but also among the museums of Europe.

"Hermitage Museum". Facade from Palace Square.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is the largest historical and art museum in Russia, which has one of the world's best collections of cultural values ​​of mankind from the era of ancient civilizations to the present day. The exposition complex occupies several buildings, including the Winter Palace, and has more than three million exhibits.

Facade of the Hermitage from the Neva.

Every year, the sights of the Hermitage attract more than five million visitors who overcome the 24-kilometer path of its halls and galleries in order to get in touch with the enduring beauty of things and interiors, surrounded by an aura of secrets and mysteries...

Hermitage: historical background

In 1764, Catherine II received a collection of Flemish and Dutch paintings in payment of the debt of the Prussian monarch, which was the beginning of the creation of the museum, of which she is considered the founder. These and subsequent acquisitions, which replenished the collection, were placed in specially built palace pavilions. The wing of the Small Hermitage was intended for communication with selected persons. It was understood that here they could be alone with art, which is reflected in the name, in translation from French ermitage is a “place of solitude”.

Indeed, until the middle of the nineteenth century, only a narrow circle of close associates enjoyed the privilege of visiting here. Even Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin received a pass only under the patronage of V. A. Zhukovsky, who at that time served as a mentor to the heir to the throne and enjoyed the special favor of the imperial family.

"Hermitage": facade from the side of the garden of the Winter Palace.

The opening of the museum for public visits took place in 1852 under Nicholas I in the building of the New Hermitage. By this time, a small collection of paintings has turned into a rich collection of cultural artifacts of Ancient Egypt, the East, ancient and medieval Europe, Asia and peoples of Russia.

Significant changes took place after the revolution. The museum was replenished with exhibits from nationalized private collections. However, the diamond room from the Winter Palace was transferred to the Moscow Diamond Fund, part of the painting was transferred to the Museum fine arts, some unique works were sold abroad.

Years of the Great Patriotic War the treasures were evacuated and were returned without loss to the museum, replenishing its storage and trophy rarities.

By the 250th anniversary in 2014, the Hermitage will become subordinate to the federal government of Russia instead of the Ministry of Culture, which has increased its status as a state institution.

Hermitage exposition

“Oh, the Hermitage, beautiful and eternal! In it there are creations of all times ... "

Few museums in the world can compete with the Hermitage in size, luxury of architecture and diversity of collections. The main exposition is located in 365 halls, the interior decoration of which is one of its most attractive features. The rich interiors of the premises, decor and antique furnishings are perceived as an independent value. In general, the museum looks like a historical complex, and its magnificent architecture serves as a frame for the beautiful contents of the halls. The buildings are interconnected and located along the Neva:

Winter Palace (1754-1762), architect F. - B. Rastrelli;
Small Hermitage (1764-1769), architects Yu. M. Felten, Jean-Baptiste Vallin-Delamot;
Old (Large) Hermitage (1771-1787), architect Yu. M. Felten;
Hermitage Theater (1783–1787), architect Giacomo Quarenghi;
New Hermitage (1842–1851), architects: project by L. von Klenze, construction under the direction of V. P. Stasov and N. E. Efimov.

The route starts from the marble, baroque, white and gold majestic Jordan Stairs of the Winter Palace. Eminent guests of emperors and ambassadors of foreign powers entered the palace along it, which is why it is also called the Embassy.

In the upper part, the path forks: a suite of front rooms goes into the distance, to the left - the Field Marshal's Hall. The niches of the walls of the hall are decorated with ceremonial portraits of G. A. Potemkin, A. V. Suvorov, M. I. Kutuzov, other famous field marshals of Russia and battle scenes. Here are the products of the imperial porcelain factory. This is followed by the main chambers of the royal residence: Petrovsky (Small Throne), Armorial, Georgievsky (Large Throne) Hall. Impressive with its size (1103 sq. m.) Nicholas Hall, intended for balls and official ceremonies. The Alexander Hall presents a collection of Western European silver.

Small throne room. "Hermitage Museum".

Behind the front doors are living rooms, the library of Nicholas II and the exposition "Russian Interior of the 19th - early 20th centuries".

The Malachite Living Room served as a kind of transition to the private apartments. The accentuated contrast of bright green malachite with white marble and gilding makes the interior memorable and spectacular. In this living room, the ladies were officially introduced to the Empress, after which they could appear at court balls. In 1842, the composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt performed here, who was honored with an invitation after meeting Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Nicholas I, at the German balneological resort of Bad Ems.

On the second floor of the Winter Palace, in its southeastern part, there is the Cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands or the Great Church of the Winter Palace. At one time, outsiders were practically not allowed here, and only members of the imperial family visited the church.

Of constant interest is the military gallery of 1812, the portrait row of the Romanovs' house, the loggia of Raphael (a copy of the passage in the palace of the Pope in the Vatican) and, of course, the Knights' Hall in the building of the New Hermitage, where you can see armed riders in armor, crossbows, swords, arquebuses relating to the 15th-16th centuries.

The real gem of the Hermitage is the Pavilion Hall, which is located in the Northern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage. Motifs of antiquity, renaissance and the east are harmoniously combined in this stunning hall filled with light.

pavilion hall. "Hermitage Museum".

The masterpieces of the world-famous art gallery include paintings by famous European painters from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The museum has rich collections of Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, Van Dyck and other eminent masters.

In Russia, only the Hermitage owns paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, these are Madonna with a Flower (aka Benois Madonna) and Madonna Litta. Among the pearls of the collection, you should definitely see works of world significance:

• Robert Campin "Tatischevsky Diptrich";
• Leonardo da Vinci "Madonna Benois";
• Giorgione "Judith";
• Correggio "Portrait of a Woman";
• Titian "Saint Sebastian";
• Caravaggio "The Lute Player";
• Rembrandt "The Return of the Prodigal Son";
• Gainsborough "Lady in Blue"

The Hermitage's collection of sculpture from antiquity to the present day is the largest in Russia. One of the main assets is Michelangelo's Crouching Boy, the only work of the great master in Russia. The time of creation is attributed to the years 1530-1534. Acquired a masterpiece of world art by Catherine II in 1785.

The Hermitage is justifiably proud of the exposition of French Impressionists "from Monet to Picasso". Collected not by the tsars, but by the industrialists Shchukin and Morozov, who almost died in difficult war times, it is located on the 3rd floor of the Winter Palace. There are about 250 wonderful paintings here, including works by Claude Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas. There are paintings by Cezanne, Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. "Dance" by Henri Matisse and a number of paintings by Pablo Picasso, among them the early work "The Absinthe Drinker" and the later "Woman with a Fan".

The sculptor Auguste Rodin is also referred to as an Impressionist. His most famous work in the Hermitage collection is the marble composition Eternal Spring.

The icon of the new godless time "Black Square" by Malevich, one of the most scandalous famous masterpieces, can also be found in the Hermitage. The copy shown here is the fourth and most recent version of Black Square, which was written in 1932.

Walking along the third floor, one can move from modern Europe to the East and see the wall frescoes of Buddhist temples found along the Great Silk Road. They represent the refined art of painting, their age is several hundred years old.

Going down to the first floor, we travel through the Ancient World. Here are objects of Scythian art found during excavations of the Pazyryk mound. Things dated VI-III centuries. BC e. , perfectly preserved due to the special climatic conditions. An ice cover formed around the mound, and the objects ended up in a natural “refrigerator”. The pride of the collection is a carpet depicting a flower, a rider and a deity in the form of a woman.

The outlandish Kolyvan vase - the "queen of vases" - was installed in the main lobby of the New Hermitage in 1849. The product of Russian stone-cutters from green jasper weighs 19 tons, its height exceeds 2.5 m, and its diameter is 5 m. This is the largest vase in the world. It is a symbol of Altai, depicted on the coat of arms and the flag of the region.

Exhibits of Roman, Greek and Egyptian halls are covered with myths and legends. One of the unsolved mysteries - "Homer's tomb" - is located in the hall of Jupiter.

Among the sarcophagi and bizarre figures of the gods of Egypt, an ominous statue of the goddess of war, Mut-Sohmet, stands out. Rumor has it that in the full moon on the lap of this oldest monument bloody puddles appear, disappearing at dawn.

The most popular tale about the exhibits coming to life refers to the wax figure of Peter I, who allegedly gets up, bows and points visitors to the door. Indeed, the built-in hinges allow you to change the position of the doll, seat it in a chair or put it on its feet. She “lives” in the building of the Hermitage Theatre, in three rooms of which there is a wonderful exposition “The Winter Palace of Peter the Great”.

And the museum began with the Small Hermitage, the center of attraction of which is the elegant Pavilion Hall with the famous clock. As soon as they begin to call, the composition “comes to life”: an amazingly beautiful peacock spreads its tail, a rooster crows, and an owl turns around its axis. The Peacock clock, made by the English master James Cox, presented by Prince Grigory Potemkin to Empress Catherine II, was delivered to St. Petersburg disassembled and could not be assembled. The master of the highest class Ivan Kulibin managed to revive the spectacular gift, the mechanism started working and is still in excellent condition.

The most original attraction is the cats of the Hermitage. By order of Elizabeth Petrovna, to protect against rats that spoiled the walls of the palace, cats were brought from Kazan, and Catherine II assigned the status of “guards” to the four-legged art galleries". To this day, the institution employs more than fifty mousers. They live in the cellars of the museum, they are fed and treated at public expense. Since 2005, a festival has been held annually dedicated to the fluffy "Ermiks" - the cats of the museum.

Previously (until the mid-1920s), the entrance to the museum was from Millionnaya Street. This is the front porch of the New Hermitage, with a portico decorated with figures of Atlanteans. Ten sculptures made of gray granite by A. I. Terebenev have long become a symbol of St. Petersburg. By tradition, you need to rub the heel of the titanium - for good luck, to return.

Tours, exhibitions, events

The Hermitage is a large and complex complex. Guides or an audio guide will help you not get lost in it, see all the most interesting and get aesthetic pleasure.

A separate excursion to the Diamond and Gold storerooms will introduce you to the masterpieces of European and Russian jewelry art. Here you can see the jewels that belonged to the royal dynasty of the Romanovs, you can see the eastern collection of weapons, the gold of the Scythians.

In addition to the main five buildings, the museum has the Menshikov Palace, the eastern wing of the General Staff Building, the museum of the emperor's porcelain factory, and the restoration and storage center.

The Hermitage Theater hosts ballet performances and concerts. The foyer of the theater and the auditorium present a classic interior, referring to the palace architecture of the seventeenth century.

Thematic classes, reports, seminars, exhibitions await visitors in the building of the General Staff.

Temporary exhibitions from the Hermitage storerooms and the most interesting collections of world museums replace each other in the state rooms and galleries of the Winter Palace.

For a walk around Rome and London's museums, invites you to visit the Center "Old Village", which has recently opened for visits as part of excursions. Here you can find out how priceless exhibits are stored, see paintings and objects applied arts, listen to lecture cycles dedicated to the creations of bygone eras and the present.

TO anniversaries events dedicated to famous scientists, artists, significant events are held.

A visit to the museum will enrich your own albums with wonderful shots of amateur photos or professional photo sessions, and souvenirs or colorful catalogs purchased at the Hermitage will replenish your home collection.

The museum is open to the public on all days except Monday, and there are discounts for certain categories of citizens, and on every first Thursday of the month, free visits are provided for absolutely everyone.

Interactive tour of the Hermitage

How to use the interactive tour window:
by pressing and holding down the left button - rotate the mouse in different directions: You can look around without moving. By clicking on the black square in the upper right corner of the interactive tour window, you will be taken to the full screen view mode.

1. Facade of the Hermitage and Palace Square.

2. Georgievsky (Large Throne) Hall of the Hermitage.

3. Golden living room.

4. Court Cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Hermitage: where is it located and how to get there

The State Hermitage Museum is located in the center of St. Petersburg at 38, Palace Embankment. The entrance for visitors is at 2, Palace Square. Opposite it is the General Staff Building.

The nearest metro stations are Admiralteyskaya, Nevsky Prospekt and Gostiny Dvor. From here it is easy to reach on foot. The spire of the Admiralty, which is viewed from the perspective of Nevsky Prospekt, will indicate the direction of movement. Ground transport: buses 7, 10, 24, 191, trolleybuses 1, 7, 10, 11 - will be delivered to the Palace Square stop.

The State Hermitage has taken the first place in the rating of the best museums in Europe, which was compiled by the popular travel portal TripAdvisor. The list was formed on the basis of reviews and reviews of 509 cultural institutions in the world. In the ranking, the Hermitage surpassed the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

To date, the museum's collection includes about three million works of art and monuments of world culture, from the Stone Age to the present century. In order not to get lost in such a "treasury", the site has compiled three routes - for an hour, three hours and a whole day - which will help tourists not get lost in the halls of the best museum in Europe.

Express: Hermitage in an hour

It is impossible to go around all the halls of the modern Hermitage in an hour, even if you run without looking around and without stopping at the paintings and sculptures. However, sometimes museum visitors set themselves such a task - most often they are guests of the Northern capital, who need to go to Peterhof in a couple of days, visit the theater, and ride a boat along the Neva.

Limiting yourself to one hour, you will have to deny yourself the pleasure of a leisurely walk. To make it easier to navigate the corridors and halls, you can download the official application of the museum to your smartphone - so you can move freely without a tour group.

If you have very little time, it is best to choose a few of the most striking exhibits and get the best route using one of the information and reference kiosks - the machine will choose the shortest path between the selected points and give you a printed map with text navigation. Here are the most popular exhibits of the museum.

"Madonna Litta"

"Madonna Litta" is a picture that tourists from all over the world come to see. Photo: www.russianlook.com

One of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the Hermitage. Exhibited in the da Vinci room on the second floor. "Madonna and Child (Madonna Litta)" was written in 1490-1491 in Milan. One of the masterpieces of the Renaissance. The painting came to the Hermitage in 1865 from the collection of Duke Antonio Litta in Milan. The preparatory drawing for the Hermitage canvas is kept in the Louvre.

"Madonna Benois"

The Benois Madonna is also known as the Madonna of the Flower. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The second masterpiece of Leonardo in the Hermitage collection. The painting “Madonna with a Flower” entered the collection from the Benois family, which is why its common name is connected. Written in 1478, it became one of the young da Vinci's first independent works. In one of the neighboring rooms you can admire the famous "Danaë" by Titian.

"Return of the Prodigal Son"

Rembrandt often used biblical and mythological subjects. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The painting is kept in the Rembrandt Room along with 23 other paintings by the great Dutch master. The canvas dates from 1668-1669 and tells about the gospel parable. The artist used this plot more than once, and painted the Hermitage painting shortly before his death. Also in this room on the second floor of the Winter Palace you can see his other paintings: Flora (1634), Danae (1636), Abraham's Sacrifice (1635) and Descent from the Cross (1634).

"Bacchus"

"Bacchus" is one of the paintings, thanks to which the expression "Rubensian forms" appeared. Photo: Creative Commons

The masters of Flanders coexist with the Dutch painter, and one of the most famous is Peter Paul Rubens. The Hermitage collection contains 22 paintings and 19 sketches made by the artist. The familiar "Bacchus" dates from 1638-1640 and entered the museum in 1772 from the collection of Pierre Crozat in Paris. With "Bacchus" nearby, you will see the paintings "Union of Earth and Water" (1618), "Perseus and Andromeda" (early 1620s) and "Stone Carriers" (circa 1620).

Three hours and three million

IN State Hermitage more than three million exhibits - in order to thoughtfully examine them all, you will need to walk more than one month and go around more than one building. Therefore, even if you have three hours left for a free visit to the Hermitage, it is better to think over in advance the points that you must visit. The easiest way is to choose one of the floors - it will correspond to one historical period. A short route through the halls will help lay the same information and reference kiosk.

There is another option - to choose the most interesting collection and focus on it. As a rule, after the da Vinci and Rembrandt halls, the most interested people are at the entrance to the Hermitage Treasure Gallery. True, you can get there only with an excursion group.

The gallery of jewels was named so during the reign of Catherine the Great. It consists of the Gold and Diamond pantries.

The gold pantry includes about one and a half thousand gold objects from Eurasia, the Ancient Black Sea region and the East, made from the 7th century BC. BC. by the 19th century AD Here are the most interesting ones:

Shield plaque in the form of a deer figure (circa 600 BC)

Animal motifs are characteristic of Scythian art. Photo credit: creaitve commons / sailko

Belongs to the collection "Gold of the Scythians". Found in the village of Kostroma during excavations of the Kostroma barrow. The collection is based on finds from the mounds of the Kuban region, the Dnieper region, and the Crimea. Another pearl of the collection, included in all history textbooks, is a golden comb with the image of fighting warriors (late 5th - early 4th centuries BC), found in the Solokha mound in the Dnieper region.

Funeral mask of the king (3rd century)- one of the most striking exhibits of the Greek hall "Golden Pantry". It was discovered in Kerch, in the necropolis of Panticapaeum. There are also exhibited a pair of gold earrings with a figure of Artemis (325-300 BC), a horn with a tip in the form of a half-figure of a dog (mid-5th century BC), a diadem with a Heracles knot (2nd century BC). AD) and much more.

Also in the "Golden Pantry" you can see masterpieces of the Hunnic jewelry art from the time of the Great Migration of Peoples (decorations of clothing and headdress, decoration of horse equipment), luxurious utensils, vessels, weapons of the East.

The second part of the gallery - "Diamond Pantry" - is dedicated to the development of jewelry. Here are jewelry from Byzantium, Kievan Rus and medieval Europe, created from the III millennium BC. until the beginning of the 20th century. In particular, items created by European jewelers in the 16th-17th centuries and 18th-19th centuries, and, finally, the work of St. Petersburg jewelers - items from the everyday life of the imperial family. The collection of the pantry contains monuments of church art, diplomatic gifts to the Russian court, products of the legendary firm of Carl Faberge.

Bouquet of flowers (1740), master Jeremiah Pozier. Jasper, agate, tiger's eye, flint, almadine, beryl, turquoise, coral, opal, corundum, aquamarine, topaz, amethyst, diamonds, diamonds, brilliants, rubies, sapphires, emeralds. Mentioned among the things of Catherine II.

A precious bouquet was pinned to a corset. Photo credit: Creative commons / shakko

Day in the Winter

Spending the whole day in the Hermitage is a fairly common practice among tourists traveling outside the group and ready to freely manage their time. Petersburgers are less likely to be so generous with their time, but the 250th anniversary of a great museum can be an additional incentive to dedicate a whole day to your favorite works of art.

You can start from the first floor - Egyptian gods, sarcophagi and vases, the history of the Ancient World and the mummy of a Scythian leader are waiting for you there.

The Egyptian Hall is one of the schoolchildren's favorite places on excursions. Photo: Creative commons / Thomas Ault

Then you can climb the Jordan Stairs to the Field Marshal's Hall and turn into the Romanovs' portrait gallery. Next - the Malachite Hall, the library of Nicholas II and the exposition "Russian interior of the XIX - early XX centuries."

In the southeastern part of the second floor, after examining the White Hall, you can go upstairs to see the works of Western European artists of the 19th-20th centuries and, separately, about 250 paintings by French impressionists. Here you will find seven paintings by Claude Monet - from "Lady in the Garden" (1867) to "Waterloo Bridge" (1903), two Parisian views of Pissarro, three landscapes by Sisley, pastels by Degas. Here - Cezanne and Gauguin, Van Gogh and 37 paintings by Henri Matisse, including "Dance" and "Music" (both 1910). Nearby - 31 paintings by Picasso, from the early "Absinthe Drinker" (1901) to "Woman with a Fan" (1908).

The Hermitage presents 37 paintings by Henri Matisse. Photo: Creative Commons

After that, you can again go down to the second floor and walk through the royal halls for ceremonial receptions - the Armorial Hall, the 1812 Gallery and the St. George's Hall. Then you can visit the Small Hermitage and at the end of the day, when the flow of visitors from the most popular halls subsides, reach the legendary Titian, da Vinci, Raphael and Rembrandt. In parting, you can go down to the halls of Greek and Roman art.