The director of the Hermitage said: « I can`t say that the Hermitage is number one museum in the world, but it`s certainly not number two».
The Hermitage was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great. Empress acquired a big collection of paintings by Flemish artists and founded a museum, where she liked to spend time in solitude.  Catherine named it Hermitage (from the French word «ermitage» - a place for solitude or dwelling of hermit). Now it is the city`s most visited museum: every year about 3 million visitors come to see it.
The complex of the State Hermitage includes five buildings: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre, and the New Hermitage. The collection of the Hermitage museum is about 3 million exhibits. 2-3 hours is absolute minimum of time to spend there if you want to see the main state rooms and some of the most popular artworks.

Tour lasts 2-3 hours