The 'piece de resistance' of a trip to St. Petersburg for many is a visit to the celebrated Hermitage Museum on the bank of the river Neva. The Hermitage is actually a complex of five interconnected buildings – the most famous of which is the Winter Palace. This was, as the name suggests, the home of the Russian Czars during the winter months. It was also where the Russian Revolution started in October 1917, resulting in the Bolsheviks overthrowing the government – and eventually the execution of the Last Czar, Nicholas II, his wife, three daughters and son in July 1918.

The Winter Palace is, by my reckoning, one of the most iconic buildings in the world. It makes a breathtaking view with its long baroque facades in peppermint green, white and gold – and statues along its roof line. Construction was started by Empress Elizabeth I who reigned from 1741 to 1761 and completed during the reign of her daughter in-law Catherine the Great. Elizabeth was a woman who knew no limits. She commissioned the palace to comprise 1,000 rooms of unrivalled splendour. It’s reported she had a wardrobe of 16,000 dresses and gowns – and that she never wore the same garment twice.

Our guide had arranged early access for us meaning we entered the Hermitage 30 minutes ahead of general admission time. This was a godsend. St. Petersburg was teaming with tourists, and they almost all descend on the Hermitage at some point in their visit – resulting in shoulder room only in many of the more important and impressive rooms. However, we enjoyed the luxury of wandering up the magnificent Ambassadors Staircase – aka the Grand Staircase – and other principal rooms with very few others in sight.

One majestic salon, opened into another, and another and then into the Small Throne Room, then a beautiful picture gallery and then the Grand Throne Room. Each of the main rooms seemed to upstage the previous in its ornateness, size, furnishings and so on. And this was all within the first 15 minutes of our visit – we were scheduled to spend 3 hours here!

One of the interconnected buildings is called the small hermitage. This houses what was Catherine the Great’s favourite room for entertaining small groups – it opens onto a long enclosed garden. It’s not as large as the other state rooms, but is equally opulent albeit in a more intimate manner. White and coloured marble, huge glass chandeliers, beautiful fluted columns and stunning micro mosaic adorned tables fill the room. This room houses the famous Peacock Clock, a full sized replica of a peacock fashioned in gold. This mechanical masterpiece strikes the hour by opening its tail which is festooned with precious stones, simultaneously with small golden birds and other animals flapping their wings, nodding their heads and so on. Amazing considering this was all made around 300 years ago. Nowadays the clock is brought to life once a week: Wednesdays at 7.00 pm.

As with the Catherine Palace and Peterhof the day before, this is serious sensory overload. The gilt, the glass, the chandeliers, mirrors, statuary, ceramics, beautiful huge urns, paintings … it went on … and on. For history and art junkies like us it was manna from heaven, for some others however I imagine it’d be hell on wheels.

I was reminded of touring Europe with my parents 30 years ago – and my father’s reaction to this kind of magnificence. He was definitely of the view – ‘seen once palace … seen them all’. He’d knock over a huge museum in no time flat. We’d still be in the first or second room of a tour and he’d have finished! I remember he ‘did’ the Tate Gallery in London in 15 minutes; the Hermitage would probably have taken him at least 20 minutes though.

Anyway back to the tour. Our guide asked us beforehand what in particular we were interested in seeing, so she could adapt our route accordingly. We told her to go light on the religious artworks which she did. We wanted to see the Impressionists’ collection but sadly this was in a part of the museum that was closed that day. Much of St. Petersburg including the Hermitage is modelled on other places in Europe. Catherine the Great thus had a replica of Raphael’s Loggia from the Vatican Palace in Rome created for the Winter Palace - this one of my favourite rooms (it’s actually a long corridor) and it is mesmerizing. Wonderful paintings and decorations adorn the arched ceiling.

We spent some time gaping at the collection of old masters by Rembrandt, Goya, Da Vinci and other famous artists, hung in rooms with priceless sculptures including the ‘Crouching Boy’ by Michelangelo, gilded furniture featuring beautiful blue lapis l’azure, dark green malachite or red agate. There’s one room the walls of which are sheeted totally in gold leaf panels – we also wandered through the last Czar’s study, and then a totally over the top red and gold boudoir. As I said sensory overload.

We emerged from the Hermitage three hours after entering to a glorious sunny day – having sated our desire for a major fix of art and culture. I have to say our guide was amazing. Her knowledge of the artworks and the palace’s history was incredible. She is a retired avionics engineer but given her extensive knowledge I think she must also have a degree in fine arts or something similar.

An absolutely incredible visit!