The
State Hermitage is a
museum of art and culture in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1764 by
Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along
Palace Embankment, including the
Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Apart from them, the
Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the
General Staff Building are also part of the museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since 1990, the director of the museum has been
Mikhail Piotrovsky.