Hermitage Museum Tour

The largest museum collection in the world is spread throughout four buildings. The most famous of these is the Winter Palace, the former Royal residence. You enter the Winter Palace from the Neva Embankment, the next building to the east is the Small Hermitage, further east lays the Old Hermitage (facing the river) and the New Hermitage (facing Palace Square). An arched gallery spans the Winter Canal and leads to the Hermitage theatre.

The Hermitage houses a tremendous collection of Western European art, including such masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Its collection of Spanish art is comparable only to that of the Prado in Madrid. The collection of French art is the largest outside France, displaying works by Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Gauguin and Matisse.