One of the significant attractions of the St. Petersburg tour is the State Hermitage Museum. This museum complex locates in Palace Square, which is the main square of the city. Almost every tourist in Russia tour will visit Hermitage Museum, and it is on the top of the list for every travel agency. The State Hermitage Museum is the second-largest art museum in the world, which is why nobody can visit the entire museum in one trip. However, most travel agencies have provided different tours for this museum, but if you want to know the top things that you should visit in the Hermitage Museum, here are our picks.
The Treasure Gallery
When you visit the Hermitage during your tour to St. Petersburg, the Treasure Gallery is one of the main places that you should see, without a doubt. Even though it has it requires an additional ticket, it would entirely worth it. The Treasure Gallery has five rooms, which each one of them contains a different treasure. The first two rooms display primitive and ancient art, including Staromyshatovsky treasure, stanitsa Novosvobodnaya, and the Maikop barrow's three significant hoards. In the third room, you can find the West European applied arts of the Middle Ages, and Byzantine and applied arts of the 6th-18th centuries. In the next room, you'll see the collection of rock crystal and stone vessels of European masters of the 16th and 17th centuries. You can find the 18th-20th century jewelry inside the fifth room. The Treasure Gallery is one of the most amazing parts of the Hermitage Museum that you should not miss during your tour to Russia. If you have plans to visit this gallery, make sure to request it on your tour to St. Petersburg program.
The Leonardo da Vinci Room
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the highly admired Renaissance masters in the world, including in Russia. Although there are only two masterpieces from him inside the collection of the Hermitage Museum, because of his fame and influence in the history of art, the Hermitage Museum administrators have dedicated an entire hall of the museum to Leonardo da Vinci, which you can visit during your tour to St. Petersburg. The Leonardo da Vinci room, which locates inside the Old (Large) Hermitage, contains two of da Vinci's masterpieces, The Benois Madonna, and The Litta Madonna. The interior of the room is another attractive aspect of the Da Vinci Room. Andrei Stakenschneider was the architect of the room, who had used colorful stone, colored stucco, and gilding to decorate the room. You can enjoy Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces and the interior of the room during your travel to Russia.
The Malachite Room
One of the State Hermitage Museum halls that you should visit during your tour to St. Petersburg is the Malachite Room, which is located inside the Winter Palace. This room acquired its name after the malachite that used to build the columns and fireplace inside it. This beautiful room was constructed in the 1830s by the architect Alexander Briullov. Although this room has a great history behind it, most tourists of Russia tour visit it because of its beauty since it retains its original decoration. The Malachite Room was the formal reception room for the wife of Nicholas I, the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. The Malachite Room is one of the places you should visit during your tour to Russia if you've had enough time.
The Room of the Great Vase
Another place inside the Hermitage Museum that you should visit during your Russia tour is the Room of Great Vase. The architect Leo von Klenze had initially designed this room to be the main hallway to the new Hermitage. A vault covers the Great Vase hall with molded decoration and multiple white marble columns. Before the room was constructed, Abraham Melnikov's great vase was placed inside the hall. This vase is the main attraction inside this room. The Great Vase weighs 19 tonnes and made out of jasper, which makes it the most significant single piece of jasper in the world. This massive vase was constructed in 1843. However, the Great Vase is not the only attraction inside the room. You can also enjoy multiple artworks from the age of Emperors Trajan and Hadrian, which include some of the Hermitage's fantastic collection of Roman sculptural portraits when you visit this museum during your travel to Russia.
Knights' Hall
Initially reserved for the showcase of medals and coins, the Knights' Hall is one of the largest rooms inside the New Hermitage building of the State Hermitage Museum. The interior of this room attracts visitors to the St. Petersburg tour, mainly because of the Polychrome painting used to decorate the Knights' Hall. The Neo-Greek style of architecture, which is used to design this room, has decorated with parquet floor and artificial marble of various shades, which makes it more attractive to visitors' eyes. Although only 200 exhibits of one of the most extensive collections of Western European arms and armor is shown in this room, you can still collect an overall view of the development of the armorer's craft from the 15th century to the 17th. If you visit this hall during your tour to Russia, you can also enjoy multiple examples of Western European Art from the 13th to the 19th centuries era.
When you visit the Hermitage Museum during your travel to Russia, besides the famous halls and locations, there are multiple items that you should not miss during your visit. Although the list of these items would be quite long, if we want to separate our top three choices, we would mention the Peacock Clock, a large automaton featuring three large mechanical birds made by James Cox. You should also check out Michelangelo's Crouching Boy, which is one of the Renaissance Italian's excellent works preserved in the Hermitage's sculptures collection, and the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael's Conestabile Madonna, which is probably one of the unfinished works of him.
You can learn more about The State Hermitage Museum and its attractions inside our weblog as well as multiple useful information about how to travel to Russia, including the top attractions, best places to visit during the tour to Russia, top shopping centers, and best cultural centers in top tourist destination cities in Russia.
