Dear Friends,

The Hermitage is a living monument to Russian history and culture.

The spirit of Russia lives in the Hermitage’s halls. Its displays from around the world housed in places where Russia’s past is tangible: the room in which Peter the Great died; the apartments of Catherine II; the study where the last Empress wrote with a diamond on a window pane “Nicky is watching the hussars”; the White Dining Room where the Provisional Government was arrested; the grand St George Hall where the first State Duma (Parliament) was inaugurated; the Gallery of 1812, a unique monument to Russia’s victory over Napoleon.

The great masterpieces reveal more than just the thoughts and feelings of their creators: they remind us of how they came to be in the museum, of Russia’s cultural ties, of Russian cultural policy that was marked by especial openness to the whole world.

The Hermitage is a museum of world culture, created by the whole world and belonging to the whole world. Its doors open to all those who love beauty and the labour and skill of talented hands.

Welcome!

Mikhail Piotrovsky
Director, The State Hermitage Museum