Wednesday May 11
Today we visited the Hermitage Winter Palace and Gold Room. The Hermitage showcases Catherine the Great's massive art collection. Very awe inspiring. Talk about a whirlwind tour! We covered the Winter Palace, the old Hermitage, the new Hermitage and the small Hermitage within an hour. We then rushed through several more rooms, hallways and stairways before finally reaching the Gold Room where we had an appointment for 10:10 am. The Gold Room houses the world-famous collection of intricate Scythian ornaments from the 7th to the 4th centuries BC. These were excavated from ancient burial sites in the Cossack and Black Sea regions and are part of the oldest gold collection of its size ever uncovered. There were also Greek pieces made from delicate gold threads. Gorgeous! Others were gifts from the Shah of Iran.
What is wonderful, is that we were able to get into the museum and through the exhibits when it was quiet. When we came out of the gold room, the museum was packed with school children. It would have been a nightmare to have gone through the exhibits any later than we did.
Tonight we attended an excellent performance of Russian folk music and dance performed by the National Cultural Society at the House of Officers. The costumes were intricate, the voices were powerful and the dances lively and acrobatic.
No comments:
Post a Comment