ST PETERSBURG IN FOUR DAYS, DAY TWO VISIT TO THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM

Hello friends,

It was our second day in this absolutely amazing city (which my husband describes as "Disneyland for Adults") and on the agenda of the day was a visit to the Hermitage museum, the second largest art museum in the world, followed by an evening performance of Swan Lake at Mariinski Theatre.

We knew that during the summer season (we were there at the beginning of July) every tourist attraction would be crowded and were prepared for it.  However, we read on the net that apparently you could avoid queueing for tickets for entrance into the museum if you buy them at the ATM machine placed right next to the huge iron gates that led into the compound.

Having purchased these tickets you can then join a separate queue which is considerably shorter and subsequently faster.  Armed with this knowledge, we did just that and ten minutes later were inside.  True, the tickets were a bit more expensive but it was worth it, especially after we saw just how long the queue to the ticket office was.

Once inside, we were asked to put on funny looking shoe covers, like the ones surgeons wear when they operate and once done, our tour of the Hermitage had begun.

But first, a little bit of history.  The white and green rectangular building that house the Hermitage Museum faces the Palace Square and stretches over 200 meters in and is about 30 meters high.  In the past it was called the Winter Palace and was the official residence of the Russian Tsars from mid 18th century till the Great October Revolution in 1917.

Although, the first Winter Palace was associated with the Russian Tsar and founder of  St Petersburg, Peter the Great, it was when the wife of his great son, Empress Cahterine the Great came to power that the Winter Palace emerged in all its splendid glory.  The palace was constructed on a monumental scale and was intended to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia.

From the moment we entered the first room, we were amazed by richness of the surroundings from the beautifully painted ceilings to the intricate parquetry, silk wall paper, gilded wall and door features, crystal chandeliers and beautiful ceramic fireplaces not to mention the collections of art and artefacts that were over three floors of the palace.

It soon became very clear that you need much more than a day to view every collection so we had to be selective in what we wanted to see first and then if we had time, see something else.

It was no-brainer that our first and foremost choice was to see the works of Russian and other great Italian and Spanish masters like Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafael, El Greco and, my most beloved, Goya.  Walking from room to room, we couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of the people who helped to build such a magnificent building.

We stopped in the Malachite room which served as a formal reception room of one of the Russian Empresses.  The room earns its name from the use of malachite on its columns, fireplace, an enormous urn, which is called Kolyvan Vase, and is made of  a staggering 19.2 tonnes which remains the biggest single piece of jasper in the world, and other most beautiful decorative pieces.

In the Pavilion Hall we stopped to admire the wonderful Peacock Clock which is more than 200 years old but still springs to life on some special days.  Sadly, that was not the day when we were there still we admired this magnificent example of craftsmanship and the ingenuity of its engineering. 

It was complete and utter sensory overload which was impossible to take in during one day.  We were busy trying to absorb and process what we saw and learnt that we didn't realise the time and, that if we wanted to make it to the theatre, we needed to leave.

We had just enough time to get to the hotel, have a quick bite, get changed and we just made it to the Mariinski Theatre on time.  It was an excellent production of Swan Lake as is expected of such a fine institution and we enjoyed it immensely.

We were quite tired when we returned to the hotel but the next day was promising to be as busy and exciting as this one.  More about it in the next post.

Until then

Anna
xoxo