State Hermitage Museum (Gosudarstvenny Ermitazh)

The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg is one of the largest museums in the world, housing over three million works of art and tracing the development of culture from prehistoric times to the present day. Highlights include Italian Renaissance art, in particular works by Michelangelo and Raphael, Flemish and Dutch painting, French Impressionist painting, and collections of Russian and Oriental art. The foundation of the collection stems from a purchase, in 1764 by Catherine the Great, of a considerable group of Western European paintings. First opened to the public in 1852, the State Hermitage Museum has belonged to the Russian people since the October Revolution in 1917; one of the five buildings in which it is housed is the magnificent Winter Palace, the former residence of the Russian Tsars.
Air: Pulkovo II International Airport (St Petersburg). Rail: Train: Moscow Station. Tram: Ermitazh. Underground: Nevskiy Prospect or Gostiny Dvor. Road: Bus: Public services. Car: M10 (from Moscow or Helsinki, Finland); M11 (from Berlin, Germany via Poland).