Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

The State Hermitage is 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. 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. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. 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. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since 1990, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky.

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. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists costs more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia and Belarus. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, and free daily for students and children. The museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for individual visitors is located in the Winter Palace, accessible from the Courtyard.

Hermitage Museum consists of 11 collections from the Egyptian and Classical antiquities to the fine art of Dutch, German, British, French and Russians. There are lot of remarkable masterpieces for example from Leonardo da Vinci, Goya, Rubens and Rembrandt. Also a Neoclassical, Impressionist, and post-Impressionist art is well represented. The collection including works by Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh and Gauguin, is displayed there in the southeastern corner of Winter Palace.

References:

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User Reviews

Francisco Flores (41 days ago)
The museum is terrific. Nevertheless, one reduces the excitement during the long queues in the entrance door. I am not against waiting, but information is needed. Otherwise, one can easily spend two hours outside. I have seen a lot of people changing their minds during that time. There should be labels informing the alternative doors. Moreover. They should improve the wardrobe service. It is a mess.

Jared Bowen (2 months ago)
Truly phenomenal location. Great views, lots of history, and a plethora of interesting items to lose a day or two studying. Words do not do this location justice. Only in person can you gain a full appreciation for this wonderful part of the world.

RAVI KOUL (2 months ago)
Another beautiful part of the Hermitage is the Winter Palace. Many tourists know it as the main building of the Hermitage Museum beautifully constructed in green and white color. The palace was constructed for Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great. Sadly, the empress died before the palace was completed. When the museum was found in 1764, Catherine the Great bought a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. This original collection still remains in the Hermitage. Catherine continued to collect paintings throughout the rest of her life. The State Hermitage Museum possesses nearly three million items of art dating back to the era of Stone Age to the present days

James Vdb (2 months ago)
Get ready to get lost in a maze of architectural brilliance lined with masterpiece after masterpiece. I found the best approach was to pick a route on the free map that would take me to the highlights and then stop at anything that captured my attention on the way. This place is way too large to try and see it all and unless you are a serious art aficionado you don't need to. Just soak up the experience and marvel in wonder at the serious collection before you

D Castillo (3 months ago)
Just a warning, it's too huge to enjoy in one day! Be prepared select the areas you really want to know and enjoy, otherwise, get a guide. It's beautiful and it has so much history, and arts. It's worth the visit. Besides, if you're a student regardless country or age, you enter for free! So don't pay tickets in advance, however, bear in mind you need to wait a lot of time in line. It's always busy there.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Guido Rudolph

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Lübeck Cathedral

Lübeck Cathedral is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1173 Henry the Lion founded the cathedral to serve the Diocese of Lübeck, after the transfer in 1160 of the bishop's seat from Oldenburg in Holstein under bishop Gerold. The then Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1230, but between 1266 and 1335 it was converted into a Gothic-style building with side-aisles raised to the same height as the main aisle.

On the night of Palm Sunday (28–29 March) 1942 a Royal Air Force bombing raid destroyed a fifth of the town centre. Several bombs fell in the area around the church, causing the eastern vault of the quire to collapse and destroying the altar which dated from 1696. A fire from the neighbouring cathedral museum spread to the truss of the cathedral, and around noon on Palm Sunday the towers collapsed. An Arp Schnitger organ was lost in the flames. Nevertheless, a relatively large portion of the internal fittings was saved, including the cross and almost all of the medieval polyptychs. In 1946 a further collapse, of the gable of the north transept, destroyed the vestibule almost completely.

Reconstruction of the cathedral took several decades, as greater priority was given to the rebuilding of the Marienkirche. Work was completed only in 1982.

The cathedral is unique in that at 105 m, it is shorter than the tallest church in the city. This is the consequence of a power struggle between the church and the guilds.

The 17 m crucifix is the work of the Lübeck artist Bernt Notke. It was commissioned by the bishop of Lübeck, Albert II. Krummendiek, and erected in 1477. The carvings which decorate the rood screen are also by Notke.

Since the war, the famous altar of Hans Memling has been in the medieval collection of the St. Annen Museum, but notable polyptychs remain in the cathedral.

In the funeral chapels of the southern aisle are Baroque-era memorials by the Flemish sculptor Thomas Quellinus.

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