The Hermitage in Staraya Derevnya is an innovative museum complex, allowing the public to visit open museum storage facilities. It is a unique opportunity to see the museum stocks and view exhibits – Venetian paintings and Western European stained glass, Early Russian frescoes and icons, Russian and Western European furniture, old display cases and Western European tapestries, archaeological collections and artefacts from the Ancient World, works of Buddhist art and much more.
On the guided tour visitors see the magnificent Costume Gallery, a visual demonstration of how European fashions have changed between the late 17th and early 21st centuries. The display includes church vestments, the ceremonial costumes of the Russian imperial court and the traditional dress of various provinces of the Russian Empire, military uniforms, ball gowns, ladies’ evening dresses, accessories and footwear.
A highlight of the visit is the visit to the Open Storage of Carriages and Harness, that presents the everyday conveyances used by Russian rulers, ceremonial carriages of Grand Dukes and the nobility, two coronation coaches that were commissioned in the time of Catherine the Great and participated in almost all subsequent coronation ceremonies.
Visits to the Restoration and Storage Centre are only possible as part of a guided tour group of no more than 5 persons during a particular time slot. Each guided tour lasts 1 hour 30 minutes. We recommend arriving at the meeting point for tour groups 15 minutes before the start of the tour. Ticket-holders who arrive late for the tour will NOT be allowed in to view the displays independently.
Metro station: Staraya Derevnya