CAHKT ПETEPБУPГA 

This page is going to be devoted to the Hermitage Museum. The museum is housed in the old Winter Palace.
On the ceiling above the main staircase is this painting. It's a little blurry. The photo that is, not the painting.
A doorway. I was much more interested in the history of the palace than the artsy crap in the museum. So my pictures will be mostly of the architecture and interior of the building than the art.
A royal coach. Remember it was less than one hundred years ago that the czars last ruled Russia.
A small throne. I can't tell you whose it was.
A big gold room. The Winter Palace was first used by Catherine the Great.
This hallway was lined on both sides with portraits of Russian military types.
Another throne. This was larger. It may have belonged to one of the czars.
Chandeliers and balconies.
An overgrown courtyard.
Another big room. The palace had 1057 halls and rooms.
A room with a skylight.
Another big room. This time from a balcony.
Some of the floors were quite ornate. My grandfather used to do marquetry. It would have taken him years to do these floors.
Another big room with stuff in it. After the February Revolution that led to the abdication of Nicholas II, the palace was used by the Russian Provisional Government.
A tapestry. There were several in this room, all themed after the continents. This is "Amerika".
In the room where the tapestries now hang, the Bolsheviks captured the cabinet ministers of the Russian Provisional Government. The clock is set to the time when the ministers of the government were seized on November 7, 1917.
We come back down the main staircase.
A side view of the main staircase. Ooh, pretty!

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