The unquestionable crown jewel of Russia's museums is the Hermitage, a vast complex that ranks as the second largest museum in the world.
It will take more than 10 years to view the entire museum exposition stopping at each exhibit at least for a minute.
The Hermitage collection contains works of Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio, Rubens and Titian, Rembrandt and Velazquez and many other artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the history of world art and culture. The museum complex itself includes five buildings: the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Grand Hermitage, the New Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater. Almost all (except the building of the New Hermitage) face one of the facades of the Palace Embankment and The Neva.