The State Hermitage

The State Hermitage is one of the greatest museums in the world. The basis of this incredible museum is a complex consisting of five historical buildings, including the Winter Palace, and was the residence of Russian tsars,. The Hermitage collection was started by Catherine the Great in 1764 from 225 paintings and currently has about 3 million objects of art. Among the Hermitage’s treasures are art works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, and a world famous collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings.