Why And How You Should Visit The Hermitage

The Hermitage is one of the most famous museums in the world. Even though I am not a huge fan of museums, I visit the Hermitage a couple of times a year. I think you should do the same! Keep reading and you will decide to put this on your list of must see places.

Why would I tell you to visit the Hermitage, one of the largest museums in the world? Seeing its grandeur with your own eyes is essential to understanding Russia. How should you visit the Hermitage? Prepare yourself and pick some objects or paintings that you would really like to see.

And how should you visit the Hermitage? I think you should prepare yourself and pick some objects or paintings that you would really like to see.

On this page

• Why You Should Visit the Hermitage
• How You Should Visit the Hermitage
• What Is the Hermitage
• Why Is The Hermitage Called the Hermitage
• Is The Hermitage the Winter Palace
• How To Pronounce Hermitage In Russian
• Opening Times Of the Hermitage
• How Much Does It Cost To Visit the Hermitage
  • How To Visit the Hermitage For Free
• Art Collection Of the Hermitage
  • Flemish Art
  • Military Gallery Of the Winter Palace
  • Egyptian Collection
  • Gold Room
  • Dutch Golden Age
  • Ancient Roman Art
  • Pioneers of Modern Art at the Hermitage

Why you should visit the Hermitage?

• You get to see the crazy luxury in which the Russian imperial family used to live.
• You get a feeling of how important the victory against Napoleon was for Russia. There is a huge room, with the portraits of the 332 Russian Generals that led Russia to its victory.
• If you’re interested in Russian History, this is the place where a lot of key events took place
• You get an insight of what a rich place Saint Petersburg used to be.
• There are many museums in Saint Petersburg, but the Hermitage is the most prestigious one. It is Saint Petersburg’s equivalent of the Louvre or the British Museum.
• Have a look at just a few highlights the museum has to offer in this blog post, but realize there is so much more. The collection is huge!

In spite of all the above, if you really don’t like visiting museums don’t visit the Hermitage. I’m sure you’ll find enough other interesting things to do in this amazing city.
Besides, the Hermitage is not the most modern and comfortable museum. When visiting the Hermitage, consider that you won’t have many opportunities to sit down and rest.The place has a bit of an old smell to it that many people dislike and might not want to be near for many hours.

How You Should Visit the Hermitage

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Only 5% of its total collection of 3,5 million items is actually on display at the Hermitage. Most people can’t absorb so many impressions in one day. We, therefore, recommend that you’re not too demanding on yourself when you visit the Hermitage. Don’t expect you’ll be able to see everything. Instead, either pick a few things you would really like to see or just wander around the museum to get a general feeling of the splendor of it all. Because of this humongous collection and, because the museum is not very comfortable for people who have difficulty walking, many people prefer to visit the Hermitage more than once and see different artworks at each visit.

What Is the Hermitage?

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The State Hermitage Museum, often called the Hermitage, was founded in 1764, when Russia was ruled by Empress Catherine the Great. It is built alongside the Neva river, which is Saint Petersburg’s most important river.

Since 1852, the Hermitage has been functioning as a museum that is open to the public. The Hermitage consists of several buildings, which are connected to each other alongside Palace Embankment: The Winter Palace, the Winter Palace Auxiliary Building, the “Old Hermitage” (also called “Large Hermitage”), and the “New Hermitage”.

Originally the Hermitage was just housed in the Small Hermitage.
Besides the buildings connected to each other alongside Palace Embankment, the General Staff Building is also part of the Hermitage. This building is located on the other side of Palace Square in front of the Winter Palace. You can read more about the General Staff Building on the Museum’s website.

Apart from the buildings around Palace Square and Palace embankment, the Menshikov Palace on Vasiliyevsky Island is also part of the Hermitage, as well as the Hermitage Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory, which is in the south of the city, close to metro station Lomonosovskaya.

Where Is the Hermitage?

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Address: Palace Square, 2 (Google Maps)
Website

Where does the Hermitage get its name?

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At the time the Hermitage was built, the Nobility in Russia spoke French with each other, not Russian. It should therefore be no surprise that the word “Hermitage” is of French origin (ermitage in French). The meaning of the word is remote place or secluded place. This may seem like a rather strange name for a palace in the middle of a metropolis, but long ago this name was chosen to underline the exclusivity of the place. Only few people were allowed to visit the Hermitage before it was opened to the public in 1852.

Is the Hermitage The Winter Palace?

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The Winter Palace is one of 5 different buildings, which all together are called the Hermitage.

The current Winter Palace was built in 1762 and was the home for Russia’s royal family. Its grandeur, with over 460 different rooms, intended to reflect the vastness of Russia. For over 150 years, the Winter Palace was the official residence of Russia’s imperial family.

How To Pronounce Hermitage In Russian

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In Russian, the Hermitage is called Эрмитаж (Ermitazh), with the stress on the last syllable. Listen to the pronunciation on google translate.

Times to Visit the Hermitage

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Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday: from 10:30 until 18:00.
Wednesday and Friday: from 10:30 until 21:00.
The museum is closed on Mondays, January 1st and May 9th.

How Much Does it Cost to Visit the Hermitage

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Tickets to the Hermitage can be bought at the entrance on the day of your visit or online. Usually there are big queues at the ticket offices, so you could save yourself a lot of time by buying your ticket online. However, online tickets are more expensive.

An online ticket can be bought here at the webshop of the Hermitage. Online ticket prices are in dollars, oneday entrance costs $17,95- and two-day entrance $23,95.

Tickets at the Museum are sold for 700 rubles to foreigners. For citizens of Russia and Belarus the price is 400 rubles. If you live and work in Russia, you may be able to pay the lower price.
Even though ticket prices for online tickets are significantly higher, it might be preferable to buy your tickets online, especially during high season. If you want to buy tickets for 400 rubles, you can do so only at the museum’s ticket office, but you may have to stand in line for hours in the rain (yes, people line up outside of the museum) before you can finally get in). In the museum’s courtyard, there are ticket machines, which allow you to buy tickets for 700 rubles. For these there may also be a line, but it’s a lot shorter.

How To Visit The Hermitage For Free

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Every third Thursday of the month, you can access the Hermitage for free. Well, at least in theory. In practice, it is rather difficult to get into the Hermitage for free during high season. You still need a ticket to get in for free and free tickets are only available at the Museum’s ticket office. It’s not possible to get a free ticket online or from the ticket machine. You can still get a paid ticket online or a ticket from the ticket machine and skip the line altogether.

Art Collection of the Hermitage

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Tastes differ, of course, but here are some of the highlights of the Hermitage’s collection

Flemish Art

The Flemish collection of the Hermitage consists of over 500 paintings from the 17th and 18th century. The most important Flemish painters of this era were Peter Paul Rubens, Anton van Dyck and Frans Snyders.

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace

This impressive red room is dedicated to Russia’s victory in the Patriotic war against France (1812). Pushkin used to love this room and came here for inspiration (remember, this was at a time before the Hermitage was opened to the public).

Author: George Dawe – Hermitage Museum website, Общественное достояние, Ссылка. A painting from the Military Gallery in the Winter Palace. On the painting, you see the Russian General Eugen of Württemberg, one of the 332 generals displayed in the Gallery. The English portraitist George Dawe, together with his helpers, is the creator of all the artworks in this magnificent room.

Egyptian Collection

The Egyptian collection made its way to Saint Petersburg relatively recently, during the last decade of the 19th century. Nowadays, the main room with Egyptian art in the Hermitage is in the former dining hall of the Winter Palace. The items of the Egyptian collection range from 4000 BC up until the first millennium of our time.
One of the masterpieces of the Hermitage’s Egyptian collection is the statue of Cleopatra, which dates from the 1st century BC and can be seen here on the museum’s website.

Gold Room

If you’re interested in ancient history, you’re going to want to visit the Gold Room. In this room, they keep ancient golden treasures. Scythian gold, and gold from Siberia that used to belong to Peter the Great’s collection. Some of the items in this collection date back to 7th century BC! Not much is known about the people who lived in Siberia at the time and made these items.

The Gold room, as well as the Diamond Room in the Hermitage may only be entered with an excursion, which is a separate ticket that needs to be purchased in addition tothe ticket for entrance. Unlike tickets for the main museum, tickets for excursions to the Gold Room can only be bought at the ticket office at the entrance of the Hermitage. A ticket for an excursion to the Gold Room costs 350 rubles and there is a limited amount available. So, if you want to see the treasures in this room during high season, you’d better come here during the early morning and keep your fingers crossed that you’re on time.

Dutch Golden Age

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During the 17th Century, the newly independent Netherlands experienced aneconomicand artistic boom. With its new protestant religion, the art of the country changed. Instead of painting religious scenes, people in Dutch society wanted to see scenes from everyday life and Dutch painters met this demand. The most famous Dutch painter of the Golden Age is Rembrandt van Rijn. Like other famous painters, Rembrandt’s work was ahead of his time and his later work was in low demand during his lifetime. That’s the reason why many paintings were sold to other countries and you can now see a masterpiece like “The Return of the Prodigal Son” in Russia.

If you’re interested in Dutch Golden Age art, you might also want to have a look at the Frans Hals paintings at the Hermitage. Hals had his own natural style. He painted people the way they are. Unlike other artists of his time, he didn’t make rich people look infallible orpoor people look bad.

Like Rembrandt, Hals was ahead of his time. He didn’t paint according to the wishes of his clients and died in poverty. Hals is famous for the liveliness of his paintings. Instead of a perfect still scene, he presents the viewer with an energetic scene. In the 18th century, interest for the work of Hals dwindled, only to be revived by impressionists who admired his work.

Ancient Roman Art

The collection of ancient Roman art at the Hermitage dates from the 1st Century BC until the end of the Roman Empire (4th century AD). The portrait sculptures from this collection are unique and a must-see.

Pioneers of Modern Art at the Hermitage

Fun Facts About the Hermitage

Cats in the Hermitage

Did you know the Hermitage has an official Cat Department? Well, it does! Catherine the Great ordered the museum to be populated by cats, who could take care of the many mice which were troubling the museum at the time. Now, the museum harbors 74 cats, who live in its basements.

Conclusion

The Hermitage is much too big to name all its highlights in just one blogpost. I would like to point out again that just watching the building with all its ornaments from the inside is also worthwhile. I hope are inspired to visit one of the greatest museums in the world.

What is your favorite work of art at the Hermitage?