DAY 1, SATURDAY
Arrival in St. Petersburg. Transfer to the hotel Kempinski. Afternoon at leisure to relax and prepare for the week to come.
DAY 2, SUNDAY
Morning and early afternoon at leisure to explore St Petersburg.
Late afternoon we meet for welcome cocktails and our introductory lecture on the history of the Hermitage, by a museum historian. Following this we are escorted to the hidden palace of Peter the Great, a little known part of the Hermitage complex, where Peter spent the last years of his life. This palace was used as the foundation upon which Quarenghi ultimately built the Hermitage Theater, and is a fascinating insight into Peter's life and the earliest stage of the history of our museum.
Dinner is at our hotel restaurant Bellevue, with spectacular views of the museum.
DAY 3, MONDAY
The Hermitage is closed to visitors on Mondays so the maximum use will be made of the opportunity to see the most popular galleries without crowds - including, on this day only, a return to the galleries after lunch. The visit begins with a survey of the museum as a palace, examining the 'Peter the Great memorial Throne Room', the Armorial Hall, the main Throne Room and 1812 Gallery. We pass through the Pavilion Hall and see the famous 'Peacock Clock' made by James Cox of London.
Continued by a study of the Italian galleries, including some of the most famous pieces by Leonardo da Vinci and Titian. Passing through the breathtaking Raphael Loggia which Catherine the Great had copied from the Vatican, we look at the two Raphaels, study Michelangelo's 'Crouching Boy' and pass through the Skylight Galleries, making our way to lunch in the staff canteen (off limits to the public).
After lunch we continue on to the world renowned Hermitage Impressionists and Post-Impressionists collection, housed in rooms formerly used by the maids of honour. We spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying these pieces, without the crowds they attract during regular museum open hours.
Lunch in the Hermitage canteen.
There will be a short St. Petersburg by night tour en route to tonight's dinner at restaurant Restoran.
DAY 4, TUESDAY
This morning we will visit the remarkable Hidden Treasures exhibition, continuing on to the Romanov portrait gallery, and Malachite Room created by Nicholas I for his wife and the reconstructed family rooms. After a break for coffee in the museum cafe, we see the highlights of the Egyptian collection en route to the spectacular Treasury II containing Peter the Great's collection of Siberian gold dating back to 5th century BC but unearthed by 17th and 18th century tomb robbers.
We depart the museum for the day, and juxtapose the glories of the Hermitage with a visit to a communal apartment, where you will have a chance to meet and talk with ordinary Russians and have tea with typical Russian pirogi. We continue in the afternoon with a bus tour of Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and Nicholas, Smolny and St. Isaac's Cathedrals.
Lunch at a communal flat.
Tonight's dinner is at restaurant Backstage, located next to the Mariinsky Theater. This is a favourite haunt of Maestro Gergiev, conductor of the Mariinsky.
DAY 5, WEDNESDAY
This is the day for Treasury I, one of the great highlights of the museum, combining glitter and art history, starting with Greek and Scythian gold and including a spectrum of the diplomatic gifts received by the Tsars' courts over the years. After a pause for coffee we return to the great Old Master paintings and sculpture collection, inspect the famous collection of 25 works by Rembrandt, followed by the Dutch "little masters", Rubens, Van Dyck and Snyders and return past the parade staircase of the New Hermitage to the gallery of Canova sculpture.
We leave the museum to have lunch at a popular local restaurant. This afternoon we enjoy a special opening of the Peter and Paul Fortress (closed to the public today), which is the resting place of most of the Tsars since Peter the Great, including the recently reburied remains of the last Tsar (Nicholas II) and his family.
Lunch at Russian Kitsch
Tonight's dinner is at the Polovtsev Mansion, a typical merchant's manor with opulent entertainment rooms which now serve as venues for various special dinner functions.
DAY 6, THURSDAY
This morning we drive to the Hermitage's new state of the art storage facility, on the edge of the city at Staraya Derevnya. En route we see new areas of St. Petersburg constructed after World War II. Since most of our time in this programme is spent in historical downtown, this drive gives us the chance to see some of the metro area of the city, as well as see one of the cemeteries dedicated to the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War (WWII).
The Hermitage Museum collections include around three million pieces of world class treasures. Only about a tenth are on display in the Museum complex, and the rest stored away. In the fascinating storage facilities, we see architectural genius: the ability to beautifully both store (on a large scale) and display world treasures (in a high security environment). We see the marvelous collection of State carriages and an embroidered tent given to Catherine the Great by the Sultan of Turkey. As well as rows upon rows of great Masters in their glass fronted filing cabinets, their breathtaking icon collections, and sculptures from many genres and epochs. After having lunch in the staff dining area, we return to the city, with an afternoon free to perhaps explore the museum on your own, with our suggestions of other galleries which also may be of interest.
Lunch in the Storage Facility canteen.
Our farewell to the Hermitage dinner is at the Old Customs House, located in the old customs house, and widely regarded as the best restaurant in St. Petersburg.
DAY 7, FRIDAY
This morning there is an excursion to spectacular Catherine's Palace, the summer residence of many of the Tsars, located in the village of Tsarskoe Tselo/Pushkin. Afternoon free to return the museum galleries, or take a look at the General Staff quarters on the facing side of Palace Square, future home of the Hermitage's 20/21 project which is the museum's current initiative to grow the its modern art collection.
DAY 8, SATURDAY
Morning at leisure. Transfer to the airport for return flight.
|
