On 10 December 2010 an official ceremony of opening following the restoration of the first phase of premises of the museum complex in the Eastern Wing of the General Staff took place.

Guests invited to the ceremony, including Governor of St Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, were bedazed by the "reincarnation" of environment. Light grey walls with white edges along the perimeter of the internal yard, cold light of multiple lamps on an invisible ceiling and booming marble stairs leading upwards are visual dominants of facilities of the General Staff opened following the restoration.

The main transformation is that classicism turned into futurism or even avant-garde. Austerity of Rossi's lines, functional fractures and bends were presented before the first visitors. Yards turned into halls: pronouncedly modern, effectively using this angularity and some asymmetry.

Yards and enfilades in the halls of the unique building, transferred throughout the 20th century from not so caring hands to other hands, cleaned, restored, painted and as if rejuvenated will now start a new life. Expositions of the 19th-21st century art, including sculpture, painting and applied art, will take place here. Restored was 32 thousand 500 sq. m of area, which is only half of the total volume. What is demonstrated is literally the first phase only
In addition, concerts can be held here. It was tested on the day of the official ceremony of delivery of the first phase of restoration as the famous soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Vasily Gerello and the ensemble of young violinists found acoustics satisfactory.
Yet there are no paintings and sculptures in restored and modernized halls of the Eastern Wing of the General Staff but it is possible to imagine how they will look. Participants of the event were able to enjoy musical and choreographic allusions inspired by works by Rodin and Matisse: soloists of the Jacobson's Ballet Theater performed a miniature Ecstasy with the music by Sergey Prokofiev inspired by the works of the great sculptor.

Matisse's famous masterpieces The Dance and The Music were animated in pantomimes performed by artists of St Petersburg theaters.

Openness and transparency (rather delusiveness) of the huge space of the new Grand Enfilade in a sequence of atriums, emphasized by light glass inter-storey inserts in a concrete floor, make this visual sequence infinite. St Petersburg allusions are everywhere: a play of light and shades of new halls, much air and "chamberness" of discreet colors of the interior - from noble brown oak of huge doors to warm shades of beige stairs. And of course, a play of volumes - a light transparent bridge hintingly divides two huge halls, smooth vault arches downscale the pathos of high cold walls. And of course, an unorthodoxy of details is a truly St Petersburg feature: for example, Rossi's building had not a single pair of similar sized windows. Therefore, each frame had to be designed separately. This adds to the uniqueness of the project designed by architectural Studio 44 and implemented by Intarsia Group. The Hermitage is committed to its principle to give, not receive, presents on its birthday. For the joy of the present is equally pleasant both to the sincere donator and the donee.

With the play of fanfares, Valentina Matvienko and Mikhail Piotrovsky were presented with a symbolic key from new facilities of the future museum. Hermitage Days are over but to their festive sequence, thanks to the opening - in both ordinary and figurative sense - of new facilities of the General Staff, not a period but an exclamation mark was put.

Festive ceremony
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Internal facades are painted in historical color
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Main Stairs - top view
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Gates of the Grand Enfilade are opened
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Animated Music
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First guests
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