State Hermitage Museum

The city's main museum occupies five connected buildings along Palace Embankment, the central one being the Winter Palace, built by Rastrelli between 1754 and 1762. The collection grew out of the private holdings of Catherine II, who in 1764 bought 225 paintings from the Berlin dealer Gotzkowsky. Beyond the paintings the interiors themselves are worth attention, among them the Peter the Great Room, also called the Small Throne Room, the Pavilion Hall of the Small Hermitage and the wooden library of Nicholas II.

On the map