The world-famous Hermitage Museum is the pride of St.Petersburg. It occupies the buildings of the former imperial residence. There are about 3 million works of art there which represent all the times and peoples. Founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 as a private imperial collection, the Hermitage has become the largest public art museum.
The basis of its collection is the picture gallery. Here you can admire masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velasquez, Van Dyke and the Impressionists.
No less remarkable than the museum holdings are the Hermitage’s magnificent buildings and rooms: the Winter Palace used for the official and private life of the Russian Emperors, as well as the Small, Old and New Hermitages and the Hermitage Theatre erected specially to accommodate masterpieces of art. They are linked together by roofed passages and form a remarkable architectural ensemble.
The Winter Palace plays an important part in the Neva panorama now. It was built in the 18th century by the architect Rastrelli for the Empress Elizabeth. Each of the facades is designed differently. The northern façade faces the Neva. The main façade is the southern one. It faces Palace Square. Its center is cut with 3 entrance arches.
The building’s decorativeness is of particular interest. Window casings, a number of vases and statues decorate the building. The Palace represents the Baroque style.
The building impresses by its dimensions too. There are 1050 halls and rooms in it, 1945 windows and 115 staircases.
The Field Marshal, Armory, Alexander and Malachite halls are of considerable artistic value. The Malachite Hall is especially notable. It is a sample of malachite decoration for a whole interior. In the gallery of 1812 you can see portraits of generals, participants of the 1812 Patriotic War.
European painting is represented by the works of different national schools and ages. Halls in the south of the Winter Palace contain the displays of English, German and French painting and other forms of art.
The Hermitage collections rank with such world museum collections as the Louvre, the British Museum, and the National Arts Gallery in the USA by their richness.
MOSCOW
Moscow is a subject of the Russian Federation, a federal city, and the Russian capital. It is home to bodies of state and local government, and has its own coat of arms, flag and anthem.
Moscow is the political and business centre of Russia, as well as the nation’s seat of power and home to its leading economic and financial institutions, over half of the country’s commercial and specialized banks, representative offices of major Russian companies, and leading world corporations.
Russia’s existing transport system is Moscow-centred, generating the main freight and passenger traffic routes in the capital and making for the creation of the national trade and distribution centre on the basis of the Moscow transport hub, containing just shy of 70% of the country’s overall warehouse space. The Moskva River water transport artery connects Moscow to five seas: the Sea of Azov, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the White Sea.
Moscow is the economic centre of Russia, the main supplier of goods and services, human resources, scientific and innovative solutions, and advanced technologies. Such sectors as fuel and energy, industry, transport, trade, communications, tourism, and education are considered promising for investment.
Moscow accounts for over 60% of total investment in Russia, and one third of the city budget is formed at the expense of foreign economic activity, while one quarter of the country foreign trade is also accounted for by the Russian capital.
There are also special economic zones and technological parks actively being created on the city’s territory.
One third of the country’s academic workers are concentrated in Moscow. More than one million undergraduate students and some 50,000 graduate students are doing their studies in the Russian capital.
38% of the country’s historic sites are concentrated in Moscow, 200 of which are included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Over 70% of all foreign tourists arriving in Russia visit Moscow.
Moscow, which is home to nearly 9% of the country’s overall population (resident population including newcomers), is a multinational city facilitating world-standard conditions for living and working, as well as studying, and taking part in sports and recreation.
Moscow is situated in the centre of the European part of Russia, in the interfluve of the Oka and Volga rivers and the centre of the Moscow region.
Its area is 1,081square meters.
Resident population, according to the Federal State Statistics Services as of January 1, 2008, is 10.5 million people.
Moscow was founded or, strictly speaking, first mentioned in the Hypatian Codex, in 1147.
At present Moscow is divided into 123 districts and 10 administrative boroughs.
Moscow has over 5,500 restaurants, over 600 museums, historic estates, and art galleries, over 350 sports arenas, stadiums, swimming pools, and skating rinks. It also has 200 hotels, over 100 theatres and concerts halls, and over 100 gardens and parks.
Over 6,800 representative offices of foreign companies are registered in Moscow. Around 300 international exhibitions and fairs are held in the capital each year.
More than 4m tourists visited Moscow every year, with most of the visitors arriving from Germany, the United States, and China, as well as Great Britain, France, Turkey, Italy, Israel, Japan, and Spain.
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