1. The Hermitage
Kirillov Gordey, Ivanova Nastya

2. The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint
Petersburg, Russia. As one of the largest and oldest museums in
the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and
has been open to the public since 1852.

3. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent
display, comprise over three million items, including the
largest collection of paintings in the world.

4. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings
along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a
former residence of Russian emperors.

5. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of
Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the
eastern wing of the General Staff Building are also part of the
museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad.

6. Of six buildings of the main museum complex, four, named the
Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New
Hermitage, are partially open to the public. The other two are
the Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House.

7. In this museum you can see a lot of pictures of famous artists,
masterpieces of prominent sculptors and unknown ancient
craftsmen. For the young visitors there are special school centre
and youth educational centre. For the adults there are theme
and overview tours and lectures on different topics.