Hermitage tour St. Petersburg Russia

 The Winter Palace

 Tour of the Hermitage St. Petersburg (Duration: 2,5 hours)

The Hermitage that is the main museum of Russia that houses more than 3 million exhibits. It is the treasure-house of world-ranking masterpieces. The tour will be through the highlights.

You will visit five buildings of the Hermitage: majestic Winter palace, Small Hermitage of Catherine the Great, Old and New Hermitage, the lobby of the Hermitage theater. The guide will show you the Great enfilade of the State rooms in the Winter palace, such as the Field Marshals Hall, the Peter the Great Hall (the Small Throne Room), the Armonial Hall, the Gallery of 1812 and the Large Throne Room. You will see the famous Peacock clock that was presented to Catherine the Great by Potemkin.

You will get acquainted with the masterpieces by the great Italians: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Spanish painters: Velaszques, Murillo and El Greco. You will see the world's best collections of paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens.

Please also remember the Hermitage private tour includes only the main museum complex.

Impressionists (Claude Monet, Piere- August Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin and other artists) are exhibited in a separate building - in the General Staff building designed as Modern Art museum. This is one of the largest collections of art of French impressionists and post-impressionists. It consists of more than 850 works of art.  If you would like to have an excursion there we also can organize it for you.

Included: guide service, museum tickets

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Hermitage tour

Samuel Waksal, Ph.D., the founder and former CEO of the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems, also CEO and the founder of Kadmon Pharmaceuticals visited St. Petersburg with the private guide. Mr. Waksal led the company to develop the landmark cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab). He is on the Main staircase of the Winter palace.

 “Maria, thank you very much for showing your wonderful city. Your knowledge of St. Petersburg, it's history, and especially art history was amazing"

The Treasure gallery of the Hermitage

We can offer you the unique opportunity to visit the Treasure gallery of the Hermitage. Actually it’s rather hard to do because the number of tickets is strictly limited. St. Petersburg private guide can arrange this tour for you.

The gallery of treasures that got its name during reign of Catherine the Great in 18 century consists of “Gold storeroom” and “Diamond storeroom”.  

The Gold Room of the Hermitage tour (Duration 1 hour)

The Gold Room houses a priceless collection from archaeological excavations: Scythian gold, the famous Ancient Greek gold, oriental jewellery items from China, Iran, India and wondeful examples of ceremonial oriental weapons.

Gold room (East, Eurasia and the antique Black Sea area) collection includes nearly 1050 gold artifacts from 7th century B.C. till 20th century. You will see the Siberian of the collection of Peter the First: bracelets, waist plate fastenings with the scenes of the fight of animals. There is also world famous collection of Scythian monuments from XVII to XVI centuries B.C. discovered during excavations of the burial mounds in Crimea, Pridnestrovya and Prikubanya: gold comb with the image of the battling soldiers, the gold shield plates  - deer and panther. You will see Greek gold and masterpieces: earring dating back to the IV century B.C., decorated with two figures of goddess Nika, horn with the tip shaped like a dog, priceless necklace, found during  excavations of the burial mound Bliznitsa at Tamani. You will see unique collection of the Hunnic antiquities: decoration for the horse equipment, gold adornments for the clothing. You will se oriental jewellery items from India, Iran and China, superb examples of ceremonial oriental weapons. You will see unigue decorative fastenings (fibuly) and diadems.

 The Diamond room of the Hermitage tour (Duration 1 hour)

The Diamond room is famous for jewelry masterpieces and diplomatic gifts that belonged to the Romanov family. There are also luxurious objects by Faberge (they made not only Easter eggs), ancient gold and precious stones. 

These treasures show the development of jewelry art from 3 th century B.C. till 20th century. You will know a lot about jewelry skill of Byzantium, medieval Europe and Kiev Russia. The basis of this collection became collection of Bazilevsky. You will see the masterpiece – the Cross of St. Trudpert created in the end XIII century and brought from Palestine by German crusaders. You will see the crosses, church utensils, chalices for communion. Two chalices for communion executed on the order of the tsar Fedor Alekseyevich are really splendid. You will see unique chalice created by Petersburg master Bode in 1790. You will see unique oriental vessels, gold utensils and the weapons decorated with precious stones. There is the ring for shooting from bow, which belongs to Shah Dzhakhan. It is made of gold with the large diamond, the ruby and the emeralds. You will be acquainted with the West European jewelry art of XVI-XIX centuries. You will see remarkable pendant “Swan” (Netherlands) and pendant-Caravel (Spain) with the Columbian emerald, gold and enamel. There are the statuettes from gilded silver, the ceremonial dishes, executed by German blacksmiths, precious snuff-boxes, collection of clocks, bracelets, adornments for the hair-do, broaches, fans, dressing-cases and rings. You will also see the masterpieces by Petersburg jewelers of XVII till the beginning XX of century.

                                                 Read about the Hermitage  

The Great Throne room

Private Hermitage tour St. Petersburg with the licensed St. Petersburg private guide includes visit of the majestic, beautiful Winter Palace - impressive and remarkable Museum building (by Rastrelli). This edifice (1762), the official Winter Royal residence, determined the lovely image on the superb Neva embankment. You will enjoy the architectural harmony, gorgeous sculpture. The view of the opulent informs about the creative marvelous style of Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Many interiors designed by him, unhappily have not survived, some were converted, after the ruinous fire of 1837. The chief of restoration Stasov left fronts wholly unchanged but applied the changes in decoration of certain premises. After this tour you can book the Amber room tour that is not less interesting.

Individual Hermitage tour informs you that in the Winter Palace since1732 till 1917 - Romanovs lived in winter. But the Hermitage - are the building series contained an art collection. The today Palace is the4-th option, built on this space in 1762 for Elizabeth. But she died not long before its completion. Empress would be probably comforted if she knew that it was so nice that is dominating for 3 centuries. It was swiftly restored after the fire of 1837. Rastrelli conferred the Baroque style to the structure, decorated with lush stucco on the pediments. Facade faces the square. But the lateral facades are behind the walls, hiding small garden.

The Hermitage appeared in 1764 and originally was only a «private collection». Catherine possessed. «Hermitage» means the monk's cell, venue of solitude. It acquired significance, became notorious. It was gravely inaugurated for visitors 101 years later. After 1917 the Palace became not important any longer. The museum gradually borrowed all its premises. Enthusiastic sovereigns did not economize monies to procure artworks. Abound of treasures could be enough for many museums.

The Peacock clock

Personal Hermitage tour will pay your attention that most of the palaces, for instance Versailles, are private buildings, hidden from the average people by extensive Park. But the Winter Palace is opened to the viewer. It was periodically dyed in different colors. It has been yellow, blue and red during revolution. After 1946 it has acquired its current white-green color. This monumental structure reflects the Empire greatness. The autocrat ruled Russia that occupied territory 22 million sq km, 150 million habitants. There are 1786 doors, 1945 windows, 1500 rooms. There are 117 staircases. Its facade is 150 meters long. The palace is 30 meters high.

Russia Hermitage tour informs: the museum houses 6 buildings along the embankment. The elegant Palace is a monument of the 18 century Baroque. Rastrelli wrote that he erected in stone a large 3- storey rectangular Winter Palace with 4 facades. Armorial hall was reconstructed by Stasov after 1837 (the fire). He increased the length and area (1000 sq. m) of this second largest hall. Using typical for Russian classicism composition of the column hall the architect has made solemn impressiveness of the heavy luxurious Corinthian gilded columns and the upper galleries and porticoes, framing the entrances. On both sides of the entrances there were sculptural groups - Russian warriors with spears on which there were shields with the Russian provinces' coats of arms. They are now on the gilded bronze chandeliers decorating the hall. That gave the name to the hall which embodied the unity of the Empire and Emperor: here the Emperor was attended representatives of cities and various estates. During the Hermitage tour you will visit this hall.

The Pavilion Hall

Private Hermitage tour will inform you that since 1762 up to 1904 the Winter palace was the imperial residence. In 1904 Nicholas 2 preferred to stay at the Alexander Palace. He ordered to open infirmary in the Winter palace (1915-1917), from July to November 1917 housed by Provisional government. Later the Revolution Museum took place there (in 1920) that shared the edifice with the Hermitage. It lasted until 1941. In all the halls there are the Hermitage artifacts now. You need to walk 22 km to see all the exhibits and 10 years to stay for one minute at each exhibit (8 hours daily).

Personal St. Petersburg private guide can show you the Knight's hall, weapons, unique jewelry. The famous clockwork peacock presented to Catherine by Potemkin can't leave indifferent. Today it works but, unfortunately, rare. Peacock is wound up on Wednesday. The stunner in the Pavilion hall happens once a week. Sympathetic figures of animals move and this is miracle indeed.

St. George hall (Great Throne room)

Individual Hermitage tour will informs you that St George (Large Throne) hall was created in the 18 century in the epoch of Catherine the great. Empress ordered the architect Giacomo Quarenghi to build a gallery and face it with «the colored stone» That semi-precious stones gave gallery unique look. In the gallery between windows Quarenghi put medallions with bas-reliefs by Kozlovskiy,Gordeev, Shubin, Martos.  On each column there were light fixtures shaped like vases with candles in 4 niches marble Italian statues were placed. The hall was intended to be the main Throne room of the Palace. So near the wall opposite to the entrance on the pedestal the throne was arranged. In the niches - allegorical figures - «Faith» and «Law» and over the throne was a bas - light allegorical figures representing winged geniuses, held posters with the monograms of Catherine 2 were placed. During the Hermitage tour you will know that the throne room was interpreted as a temple of the Russian Minerva, the Kingdom of the «Law and blasphemy» served as a guarantee of prosperity of Russia.

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