Hermitage Museum Russia

One of the oldest and largest museum of the world is located in St. Petersburg in Russia. The Hermitage museum was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852.

It's 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.

Catherine the Great started her art collection in 1764 by purchasing paintings from Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The collection consisted of Rembrandt, Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Anthony van Dyck, Paolo Veronese, Frans Hals, Raphael and many more.

Catherine acquired 4,000 paintings from the old masters, 38,000 books, 10,000 engraved gems, 10,000 drawings, 16,000 coins and medals and a natural history collection filling two galleries, so in 1771 she commissioned Yury Felten to build another major extension. The neoclassical building was completed in 1787 and has come to be known as the Large Hermitage or Old Hermitage.

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