Catherine the Great founded the collection in 1764 by buying paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The complex now has six historic buildings, five open to the public, and the Winter Palace, a former residence of the emperors, holds the main visitor entrance.
Yury Felten began the Small Hermitage in 1764, and Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe built its Northern Pavilion from 1767 to 1769. Felten's neoclassical Old Hermitage followed from 1771 to 1787. Giacomo Quarenghi built the Hermitage Theatre from 1783 to 1787 as Catherine's private theatre.
Leo von Klenze designed the New Hermitage for Nicholas I in 1838. It was built from 1842 to 1851 and opened to the public on February 5, 1852, with Greek Revival ground-floor interiors. The collection now exceeds three million items, and the museum had 2,812,913 visitors in 2022.
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