St Petersburg is a strikingly beautiful, historic city packed with sights to see, but the high-spot of any visit has got to be a visit to the Winter Palace - the fabulous green, white and gold palace of the tsars that sits by the side of the River Neva. The Winter Palace, of course, includes the State Hermitage Museum, one of the world's greatest art galleries - a gallery so remarkable that it is worth traveling all the way to Russia just to see it.
The Hermitage is the largest collection of Russian art in the world. It started out as a private collection of Empress Catherine the Great. She commanded the Russian ambassadors across the world to purchase the best pieces of art that they could find and gradually grew her collection. Only few selected people were allowed to see her collection. In one of her letters she wrote: "Only the mice and I can admire all this." Today, the Hermitage is one of world's most important collections of art.
The Winter Palace has 1,057 halls and rooms that are now open to the public. The palace is one of the most luxurious places on the face of our planet. The Palace Square is just as rich in history. It is where the December rebellion had been crashed and where the Bolshevik rebellion has succeeded. It was on this square that the imperial guard opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in 1905, igniting the revolution that would culminate in the storming of the Winter Palace by the Bolsheviks in 1917. In the center of the Palace Square stands the Alexander Column, memorializing the role of Alexander the I in stopping the Napolean's invasion.
History of Hermitage
The origin of Hermitage gallery goes back to the times of Catherine the Great, when she began to create her own private collection of paintings. Now, after two and a half centuries, it occupies six buildings and hosts a collection of about 3 million exhibits including many of the finest masterpieces of European art. To see all the art displayed you'd have to cover a distance of about 14 miles - and yet the majority of the collection is not even on display (though now there is public access to some of the vast reserve collection in the north of St Petersburg which is definitely worth visiting)!
The Palace and its collection are so massive it's impossible to see everything, even in several visits. Perhaps the best way to explore it is first to go on a high-speed reconnaissance tour for a 2-3 hours to get an overview of as much as you can see. Then go back later (on another day when you've recovered!) to concentrate on your favorite bits and see them properly. Even so, after several visits you will touch only the tip of the iceberg.
Did you know? All of our private tours to St. Petersburg include at least 3 hours at the Hermitage with a professional guide.
There are three elements to visiting the Winter Palace. Firstly, it is where Russian tsars spent their lavish lives during the winter - this is where the name comes from. After the Romanov's, the winter palace was a residence of provisional governments, Bolsheviks headquarters and later it became a magnificent museum filled with remarkable historical artifacts. And finally, there is the Hermitage art gallery itself.
Among the highlights of the art gallery are the Renaissance collection with its fabulous Raphael, the Impressionists (Cezanne, Monet) and the 20th century paintings (Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky). Highlights of the historic palace are the Malachite room, the Great Nicholas Room where glittering imperial balls were held, the Concert Hall and the imperial carriages. Visitors concentrating on the art treasures often miss the Museum altogether, but it's actually a major museum, with a wealth of fascinating exhibits including finds from Russia's ancient Scythian culture (notably the amazing gold and silver antiquities in the Golden Room, which costs extra and has to be booked in advance, plus the mummified corpses and horses from the burial mounds, and the 2500 year-old carpet).
The Hermitage's popularity, of course, means that lines could be huge, but there are couple tricks to get around them. Buy tickets online and in advance. Get a guided tour. Your guide will whiz your account. You can get an official tour from the 'excursions' office located on the premises, but t is a better idea to ask your travel agent to arrange a good guide for you who will not only take you to the best places and things, but also be able to tell you're fascinating stories. With a guided tour you won't have any stress in this giant palace where rooms form intricate labyrinths.
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