Dazzling, Massive, Exquisite — The Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace

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Walking into the Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace I was naive thinking I could see most everything in two or three hours.  This place is beyond enormous!  There are over 1,000 rooms and halls, 1,786 doors, and 1,945 windows!  I read that if you were to spend one minute looking at each item, you would be there for 11 years!   The Hermitage Museum is one of the largest and most respected art museums in the world.

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Having just arrived via ship that morning from Finland, we only had 2 1/2 days to explore St. Petersburg, Russia, through the Visa-free passage, hence the limited time allotted for each site.

While pushing my way through throngs of crowds, I was happy to have my wide angle lens!  I was able to get very close to the roped off areas to take my photo…

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Some of the smaller details are just exquisite!

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The Museum was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great.

According to Wikipedia, “The Hermitage buildings served as a home and workplace for nearly a thousand people, including the Imperial family. In addition to this, they also served as an extravagant showplace for all kinds of Russian relics and displays of wealth prior to the art collections. Many events were held in these buildings including masquerades for the nobility, grand receptions and ceremonies for state and government officials.”

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I took many photographs, but these are some of my favorites…

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I love lines…I should’ve been an architect!

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Even with my wide angle, I couldn’t capture the length of the building!

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The Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace is one of the most popular sites to see in St. Petersburg and I feel fortunate to have seen some of it!

 

17 thoughts on “Dazzling, Massive, Exquisite — The Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace”

  1. Beautiful photography. I hope you had time in the 72 hrs. to get to the Russian Museum. I found it far less crowded than the Hermitage. It houses everything from iconic paintings from medieval times to some spectacular work of 20th century artists, some of it never seen outside of Russia.

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  6. Great wide angle shots, Sherry. The Hermitage is among the most gorgeous sites (not just as a museum) that I’ve had the good fortune to experience. What a privilege it was to be among the very first visitors one fine fall morning many years ago; while everyone went off to the checkroom, the toilet, or just milled around, I ventured off quickly into the rooms and had the incredible privilege of spending an exquisite amount of time in many of those magnificent rooms all my myself 😉
    If you’re a lover of the Hermitage, you might want to watch The Russian Ark (2002). It’s a spectacular filmic tour of the Hermitage, taken in a SINGLE shot. Absolutely & unimaginably breathtaking!

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