Hermitage Museum

Catherine the Great's private picture collection, begun in 1764, grew into the State Hermitage (Государственный Эрмитаж). It fills the Winter Palace, once the residence of the Russian emperors, and a chain of linked buildings along the Neva. The palace's state rooms draw visitors as much as the art does: the white-and-gold Jordan Staircase, the Malachite Room and the Pavilion Hall with its gilded Peacock Clock.

The picture galleries hold one of the great collections of European painting. Highlights include Leonardo's Benois Madonna and Litta Madonna, Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son, and rooms of Titian, Rubens and Van Dyck. Beyond painting, there are classical antiquities, Egyptian objects and Scythian gold. Later French art, including major works by Matisse, hangs in the General Staff Building across Palace Square.

With nearly five million visitors a year, the museum is both crowded and enormous. Even a full day covers only part of it, and many people return to concentrate on a single collection or wing.