The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Why Visit the Hermitage Museum

The world's second largest museum after the French Louvre, stunning Hermitage is, indeed, a must-visit for all art enthusiasts from all over the world. The unique Hermitage collections are housed in 6 historic buildings nestled on the Palace Embankment in fairytale St. Petersburg.

The Winter Palace is a fabulously large green, white, and gold building on the side of the Neva River, aka one of the edifices of Hermitage Museum that epitomizes Russia’s love affair with art and culture. It is the home to the largest collection of paintings in the world. The total number of pieces kept by the museum tallies to somewhere around 3 million.

Apart from the Winter Palace, you will be equally amazed by visiting some more museum's buildings like the Menshikov Palace, the General Staff Building, the New and Old Hermitage and the Small Hermitage during your St. Petersburg travel.

The Hermitage was created in 1764 as the private collection of Empress Catherine the Great. She commanded Russian ambassadors around the world to purchase the best pieces of art they could find.

Through their work, she grew her collection, which went on public display (to the “respectable set”) in 1852. Today, the Hermitage is one of world's most important collections of art.

Naturally, only a small portion of the collection can be displayed at any given time. Today, tours of the Hermitage are usually longer than 3 hours and incredibly popular. Visitors might see exhibitions in any of several buildings that are mostly lined up along the Palace Embankment of the Neva River.