Part II

 The history of the Hermitage goes back to the time of Catherine the Great. In 1764 the first collection of 225 Dutch and Flemish paintings was bought in Berline ( Gotzkowsky). This collection was made for the Prussian King Frederic II, but his finances were in a deplorable state and he sold it.

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  In order to house the collection a special building was put up next to the Winter palace. It was called the Hermitage. The world Hermitage means “ the dwelling of a hermit ”.

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  It was a private, court museum, where all the treasures were regarded as a personal possession of the Empress. Members of the elite were admitted to the museum on a special invitation cards.

 Vallin de la Mothe.  The Small Hermitage was erected in after the design of the architect Vallin de la Mothe.

  With the course of time the Hermitage collection grew in number and museum became one of the most remarkable collections of paintings in the world.  It was enlarged by the addition of two more buildings to the first one.

 Yuri Felten.  The building of the Old Hermitage was built in by Yuri Felten.

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 Leo von Klenze Vasily Stasov and Nicolai Yefimov.  The New Hermitage was erected in after a design of Leo von Klenze by the architects Vasily Stasov and Nicolai Yefimov.

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 Alexander Terelenev.  The main entrance of the New Hermitage is decorated with ten huge statues of atlantes. They were made from the model of the sculptor Alexander Terelenev.

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 Giacomo Quarenghi  The Hermitage Theatre was designed by Giacomo Quarenghi and complated in The architect built its auditorium in the form of an Amphitheatre.  The Hermitage Theatre was the private theatre of Catherine the Great. Today this is the lecture and the concert hall.

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  There was a fire in the palace on the 17 th of December in 1873.The fire was blazing for three days. It destroyed everything but the brick wall.  The soldiers managed to take away the pictures from the place. They were piled in the square near Alexander Column.

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  The passages leading to the Small Hermitage were heaped with bricks and thus the fire was stopped. V.Starov and A.Bryullov  The restoration was done by the architects V.Starov and A.Bryullov.

  Now the Hermitage is open to all people. The Hermitage frequently displays its collections abroad and arranges foreign exhibitions in St. Petersburg.