So if you are the Tsar of Russia and the Hermitage was your home...
It's no wonder there was a revolution in Russia. The Hermitage is a magnificent museum with it's best "exhibit" being the remains of the former palace features.
It's no wonder there was a revolution in Russia. The Hermitage is a magnificent museum with it's best "exhibit" being the remains of the former palace features.
Street view entrance to the Hermitage. Tickets are available to purchase online in advance. Everyone who purchased tickets online to avoid the crowds arrives at 10:15 and forms a long line. The doors open at 10:30 and it's as though nobody at the front of the line has ever gone through a security detector before. Better to arrive at 10:45 when there's no line.
The Hermitage from Palace Square.
The Hermitage from the Neva River.
The Hermitage from the Spit of Vasilievsky Island.
Tsar Nicholas II's library and one of the only Hermitage rooms not torched by the Bolsheviks.
The red drawing room. Not to be confused with the blue drawing room.
Hall with military looking types painted on the walls.
A church inside The Hermitage - a sense of the scale of the overall building.
The throne room.
A golden room on the southeast corner.