Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg is one of the world’s leading art museums, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and now occupying a complex of historic buildings centered on the Winter Palace. The museum’s permanent collection spans antiquities, European and Russian art, and decorative arts.

Key sites for visitors include the Winter Palace state rooms, the Small and Old Hermitage galleries, and the New Hermitage and General Staff Building, which house major painting collections and rotating exhibitions. The museum’s holdings are extensive, commonly cited at around three million objects, with major highlights from Old Masters, Italian Renaissance, and Russian art.

The Hermitage grew through imperial collecting, purchases, and bequests from the 18th century into the modern era, and its buildings were adapted to museum use across the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum remains a central cultural institution and research center for art history.

The complex sits on Palace Square along the Neva River in central St Petersburg and is a principal stop in the city’s historic core.

• Collection size: The museum's holdings are commonly quoted at around three million items spanning art, archaeology, and cultural artifacts; only a fraction is on permanent display at any time.
• Visiting highlights: Major highlights include extensive European Old Master paintings, Egyptian antiquities, and Russian imperial-era state rooms; plan several hours to visit principal galleries.

What to See #

• Winter Palace: Winter Palace - the former imperial residence on Palace Square that now houses a large part of the Hermitage's state rooms and major galleries.
• Hermitage buildings: Small, Old, and New Hermitage buildings that contain collections of European art, antiquities, and decorative arts assembled over centuries.
• General Staff Building: The General Staff Building on the opposite side of Palace Square which contains 19th and 20th century collections and temporary exhibitions.