You are going to St. Petersburg and plan to visit the Hermitage Museum? You look for a high-quality private tour?
Dear friends, please know, we will be happy to arrange a tour of the Hermitage Museum for you.
Before your visit we would like to tell you about our great museum.
The State Hermitage Museum, Russia’s largest museum is located in the heart of St. Petersburg on the Palace Square. The museum contains more than 3 million items including sculptures, paintings, graphic art, applied art, archaeological finds and numismatic collection.
The history of the museum began in 1764 when Catherine II purchased the first collection of paintings from the German merchant Gotzkowsky. She ordered the construction of a separate building next to the Winter Palace. The two buildings were connected by three galleries. Thus, every day she could enjoy her art collection.
Walking through her gallery alone, Catherine II one day wrote: “Only me and the mice enjoy art in my new art gallery. Here I feel like a hermit. This gallery for me is like a hermitage.”
Catherine herself was a German princess who lived in Russia but spoke mostly French. It turned out that Catherine called her gallery by the French word “Ermitage”. To this day people pronounce the name of the museum like that.
Catherine II ruled the Russian Empire for 34 years. All her life she expanded her collection of art. Very soon that first building (now known as the Small Hermitage) was not enough to accommodate the increased art collection. So in 1787 the Great Hermitage building appeared next to the Small Hermitage.
Very soon however one more building was constructed adjacent to the Great Hermitage – the Imperial Hermitage Theatre. Theatrical performances were really loved by Catherine the Great and the Imperial Court’s life needed such an establishment.
The fifth and the last building of the main museum complex – the New Hermitage – was built to the order of the Emperor Nicolas I in 1850.
Thus the main museum complex on the Palace Square consists of five buildings located close to each other. All five buildings connected by galleries. Therefore, during a tour of the Hermitage Museum you sometimes don’t notice how you move from one building to the next one.
We invite you to our Hermitage Museum tours what are led by our highly professional guides – experts. You will be fascinated by the beautiful architecture, impressive art collection and amazing stories.
The main museum complex collection is arranged in chronological order; department of each country in a separate section.
The collection of Italian department includes some great masterpiece as two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, one piece of sculpture by Michelangelo, two masterpieces by Raphael, paintings by Botticelli, Fra Angelico,Filippino Lippi, Caravaggio, Canaletto and many other paintings.
The Dutch department includes works by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Paulus Potter, Ruesdal , Jan Steen, Greard Terborch and other masterpieces.
The Flemish department has works by Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Frans Snyders. The French collection is represented by Limoges enamels, ceramics by Pallisy, paintings by Simon Vouet, Le Nain brothers, Nicolas Poussin, Bourdon, Antoine Watteau, Francois Boucher.
The collection of Spanish painting includes works by Diego Velazquez, Zurbaran, Jusepe de Ribera, Murillo, Francisco de Goya, El Greco.
We can’t mention here all great works of the collection. On our Hermitage Museum tour you will enjoy many masterpieces mentioned above and some other artifacts.
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