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St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum marks 250th anniversary

Buildings, halls, visitors and masterpieces of the State Hermitage Museum in photo gallery by TASS

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Three million people visit Hermitage Museum within a year. Peak season lasts from May to September

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Shakhidzhanyan

Its collections comprise over three million works of art and world culture artefacts, including the largest collection of paintings in the world

© ITAR-TASS/Uriy Belinskiy

The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Photo: Main staircase of New Hermitage

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Shakhidzhanyan

Hermitage museum has collection of 24 paintings by Rembrandt, including his famous masterpiece Danae. In 1985 Rembrandt's work was seriously damaged. A man later judged insane threw sulfuric acid on the canvas and cut it twice with his knife. Painting was restored in 1997 and Danaë is now on display behind armoured glass

© EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

Only 5% of Hermitage's collection is on permanent display, the rest is in storage

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Shakhidzhanyan

About 36 thousand tours are held in Hermitage museum in a year. Photo: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visits the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, 2011

© EPA/JERRY LAMPEN

The second floor of the Hermitage's Western wing features collections of the Oriental art (from China, India, Mongolia, Tibet, Central Asia, Byzantium and Near East)

© Fotokhronika TASS/Uriy Belinskiy, Igor Zotin

More than 2,5 thousand peoplpe work in Hermitage Museum. 230 custodians and 350 museum attendants are among them

© ITAR-TASS/Anatoliy Strunin

Visitors near the sculpture Three Graces by Antonio Canova

© ITAR-TASS/Uriy Belinskiy

Wine cooler by Charles Frederick Kandler I on display at the State Hermitage Museum

© ITAR-TASS/Anatoliy Strunin

Hermitage's collection of antiquities consists of 170 thousand items. Photo: Statue of Jupiter on display at Hermitage Museum

© ITAR-TASS/Anatoliy Strunin

More then 50 cats guard the Hermitage Museum's artistic treasures from mice. Photo: Cat stretches in the Pavilion Hall of the museum

© AP/Dmitry Lovetsky

Collection of European art has about 600 thousand items

© EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

Hermitage's collection of ancient and early medieval culture consists of nearly 2 million items

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Shakhidzhanyan

Soviet Staircase in Hermitage museum

© ITAR-TASS/Denis Vyshinskiy

Total area of Hermitage museum is 233 345 sq. meters. Exhibition area is 66 842 sq.metres

© wikimedia.org/Kora27

St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum celebrates its 250th birthday on December 7. The museum is considered to be founded in 1764. Its collections comprise over three million items and occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Buildings, halls, visitors and masterpieces of the State Hermitage Museum in photo gallery by TASS

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IN BRIEF: What Putin said about Russia’s new missile, and Moscow’s response to the West

Moscow used its new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile in response to the West’s decision to authorize strategic-depth strikes on Russia

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Dmitry Suslov pointed to a crucial message in the President's speech: "Russia firmly believes that the West has moved from a proxy war to a direct war" and that the sides are already "in a state of global conflict"

Russia entitled to use weapons against military sites of states attacking it — Duma

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Ukraine conflict entering decisive phase, Polish PM says

According to Donald Tusk, "no one knows how the conflict will end"

Putin to address parliament next year, preparations underway — Kremlin

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