Pronounce the word "Hermitage" in any part of Russia - and you will learn that everybody has already heard it. Even those who have never been to St Petersburg ask about the Hermitage. Taking into account all the treasures the Hermitage houses, it is really the only artistic monument of which our homeland can be proud as much as France prides herself on the Louvre and England on the British Museum. Dmitry Grigorovich, 1865.