1771-1787: Construction of the Great Hermitage

In 1771, Empress Catherine II ordered construction of a new building next to the Small Hermitage, which was to become known as the Great Hermitage. Yuri Velten, the architect, was instructed to create a building which could accommodate the Empress's ever-expanding library and collections of works of art. Although it was in the austere 18th-century Neoclassical style, the three-storey structure was nonetheless in keeping with the overall palace ensemble. Decoration of the facade is based on a combination of vertical and horizontal lines.

In 1792, Giacomo Quarenghi built an extension to the Great Hermitage to house the Raphael Loggias, 18th-century copies of the original frescoes in the Vatican, Rome. In turn, a gallery was strung on a bridge connecting the new building and the Theatre, which stood on the opposite side of the Winter Canal.

View of the Neva Embankment by the Hermitage Theatre
Beggrov, Karl Petrovich
Image in the Digital collection

View of the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Embankment
Beggrov, Karl Petrovich
Image in the Digital collection