Winter Palace and Main Museum Complex

Sprawling across the connected buildings of the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage and the Old Hermitage, this vast, chaotic and incredibly rich collection is unquestionably the biggest draw for visitors to St. Petersburg. Founded by Catherine the Great, who bought up artwork en masse from European aristocrats, embellished by each of her successors, and then massively enriched by Bolshevik confiscations and Red Army seizures in conquered Germany, the Hermitage collection is incredibly varied, ranging from ancient Siberian artifacts to post-impressionist masterpieces by Matisse and Picasso. Equally impressive are the lavishly decorated State Rooms of the Winter Palace, testament to the incredible wealth and extravagant tastes of the Romanov Tsars.

Visiting this remarkable collection can be a daunting experience, particularly if you are not planning on booking a guided tour. With 350 rooms of exhibits and over 2.5 million visitors per year, the museum can be crowded and overwhelming. It pays to plan ahead to get the most out of your visit to the Hermitage and to ensure that you see the parts of the collection of most interest to you. To help you do this, we have split our Hermitage guide to cover each section of the exhibition separately, with details of the highlights in each section. One ticket covers all parts of the collection in the Winter Palace complex, except for the Treasure Galleries, which can only be entered as part of a guided tour. Separate tickets have to be bought for video and camera photography within the museum. It is also possible to pre-book tickets over the Internet, which is more expensive, but helps to avoid queues, which can be a problem for visitors during peak tourist season in the summer.

State Rooms As stunningly impressive as any of the artwork on display in the Hermitage, the State Rooms of the Winter Palace reflect the glories of the Russian Empire at the height of its powers. ›››

Antiquities The Hermitage's collection of classical and ancient art contains particularly fine exhibitions of Attic vases and antique cameos.  ›››

Prehistoric Art One of the least visited but most unusual collections of the Hermitage, the west wing of the Winter Palace contains a remarkable range of archeological finds from Siberia and Central Asia. ›››

Treasure Galleries These heavily guarded halls contain priceless exhibits of applied art, including rare Scythian and Sarmatian goldwork, and a remarkable range of jewels collected by the Romanov Tsars. ›››

Western European Art (13th to 19th Centuries) Containing some of the Hermitage's most celebrated gems, including extensive collections by Rubens, Rembrandt and Poussin, and works by Leonardo, Titian, and Goya, amongst others. ›››

Modern European Art Probably the most visited section of the Hermitage, with particularly notable collections of Picasso and Matisse, as well as a wealth of ever-popular Impressionist canvases. ›››

Oriental Art Long neglected and now undergoing major reorganization, the Hermitage's collection of Oriental Art is ramshackle, but contains some fantastic works of ancient eastern art. ›››

Numismatics This vast collection of coins, medals, badges and seals comprises over 1 million items, accounting for over one third of the Hermitage's entire collection. ›››