Winter Palace on Neva River, Saint Petersburg

Travel to St. Petersburg to visit Hermitage

Travel to St. Petersburg and stroll along the banks of the Neva River to see the magnificent Winter Palace. Originally constructed for Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, she died before the palace was completed. As a result, Catherine the Great and her successors were the first inhabitants of this glorious residence, which became the primary home of the Russian Tsars after 1760. In 1837, a fire ravaged most of the Winter Palace rooms. The building was subsequently renovated and expanded. Altogether, the buildings now house the world-renowned collection of the Hermitage Museum.

The Hermitage Museum in winter time, St. Petersburg

Designed in an elaborate Baroque style, the famed Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia. The full building boasts an incredible 1,057 sumptuously decorated halls, 1,786 doors, and 1,945 windows! Art and artifacts that represent all periods of history and all regions of the world are on permanent exhibit. The range of masterpieces is wide, with archaeological relics from Ancient Egypt, works by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and French Impressionist paintings by Monet and Renoir… to name but a few. The Hermitage is a focal point of all tours to St. Petersburg; guided tours are available.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia

The Most Famous Paintings

• Return of Prodigal Son (1666-1669) by Rembrandt.
• The Madonna Litta (15 century) by Leonardo da Vinci.
•  Danae (1554) by Titian
• The Conestabile Madonna by Rafael.
• St Joseph with the Infant Jesus (1635) by Guido Reni.
• The Union of Earth and Water (1618) by Peter Paul Rubens.
•  Apostels Peter and Paul (1587-1592) by Greko.
• Tratched Cottages (1890) by Van Gogh.
• The Woman Holding Fruit (1893) by Paul Gauguin.
• The Boulevard Montmartre in Paris (1897) by Pissarro.
• Two Sisters (1902) by Pablo Picasso.
• Portrait of a Lady in Blue (late 1770) by  Thomas Gainsborough