1: The Hermitage in Staraya Derevnia

The formal opening of the Repository took place on 16 May 2003 during the city's 300th anniversary celebrations. The first phase included the administrative, storage and engineering blocks and boiler-house.
The project employed up-to-date approaches to the organization of the storage and restoration and to information support, while also taking into account the latest achievements in the field of security systems.
The seven-storey Storage Block, with a useful floor area of over 16,000 square metres, is fitted with special equipment, including a climate control system.
At the present stage the Storage Block mainly houses collections of the Departments of Western European Art, the History of Russian Culture, the East and the Archaeology of Eastern Europe, as well as the Laboratory for the Scientific Restoration of Easel Paintings.
At the same time it differs from tradition museum repositories in the use of the "open storage" principle. Visitors are introduced to the stocks by following a definite route, in the course of which they are able to acquaint themselves with the main principles and conditions for the storage of museum exhibits.