The State Hermitage Museum/Государственный Эрмитаж

     The first time I had ever heard about The State Hermitage Museum was when I was at my best friend's house and he was watching some Russian news and he bumped me and said "Look! Look! That's my grandmother!" My best friend's name is Vladimir Kirill Ukhanov/Владимир Кирилл Уханов and his grandmother's name is Ирина Николаевна Ухановаand she works at The State Hermitage Museum. Ирa has been working at the world renowned museum since 1949, she has a doctorate in historical sciences and is the chief scientific officer of the history of Russian culture at the museum. The first picture included is an image of my friend's grandmother from The State Hermitage Museum's website (по-русски: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_Ru/index.html , не по-русски: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/index.html)
     Now more on the facts about the museum itself. The State Hermitage Museum/Государственный Эрмитаж is a museum of art and culture located in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world and it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. The museum's collection comprises of over 3 million items which includes the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace which is a former residence of Russian emperors and apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building. The director of the museum is  Mikhail Piotrovsky/Михаил Пиотровский. When I go to Russia one day, I am planning on visiting this museum and I cannot wait!