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The Hermitage museum is one of the most extraordinary collections of art in the world. It was founded at the second half of the 18th century by Russian Empress Catherine II as an absolutely private museum. She wrote to her friend “Only me and mice can admire all this beauty”, hence the name of the museum – “hermitage” meaning ‘the place of solitude, hermit’s dwelling’. Since then the situation has changed greatly: at present about two and a half million people attend the museum annually to see not only the magnificent works of art – paintings, sculpture, ancient artefacts, porcelain sets, furniture, — but also the stately interiors where those are on display.
The major part of the collection is situated in five original buildings of the 18th – 19th centuries connected together. However there are six more buildings in different parts of the city which also belong to the Hermitage museum complex. All together there are about 3 million items in the museum. Someone has calculated: if a person comes to the Hermitage every day and spends just one minute near item, it will take him or her ten years to see everything! So huge is the museum, so hard it is to find your way there, to get oriented in this complicated labyrinth.
Accompanied with our highly professional tour-guide you will be able to admire the real gems of the collection, the most outstanding masterpieces of the Hermitage museum. You will walk through astonishing state rooms of the Winter Palace; you’ll see the works of Italian Renaissance masters, including those of Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafael and Michelangelo; you will hear the stories of the 18th century Italian sculptures (Pietro Stagy, Antonio Canova, Bertel Thorvaldsen); the paintings of Spanish (Francisco de Goya, El Greco, José de Ribera), Dutch (Rembrandt, “small Dutch masters”), Flemish (Pieter Paul Rubens, Antoon van Dyck) masters.
Probably the highlight of the whole tour is going to be the collection of French Impressionists and Postimpressionists. The Hermitage museum is happy and proud to own one of the best collections of French Impressionists and Postimpressionists in the world. Come and admire the works of Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso.
From the middle of June till the middle of September we offer you a possibility to go through the museum without crowds thanks to the special early opening tickets. You will need to get up rather early, but then you can enjoy walking through the Hermitage museum when it’s almost empty. It’s a great privilege, as it’s a bit hard to feel the magic of art when thousands of people are at the same building at the same time and every single room is overcrowded.
After the organized tour is over, you are able to stay in the Hermitage museum for as much time as you like. The museum is closed at six PM (on Sundays — five PM).
