Take a tour of Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia – part of the World’s Greatest Attractions series by GeoBeats. With its elaborate baroque architecture, the Hermitage Museum is an art museum fit for royalty. That’s because it’s also the Winter Palace, home of the royalty from 1732-1917. It’s stood through Russia’s political transitions and was briefly the seat of the Russian Provisional Government. The Winter Palace first became a museum with Catherine the Great’s collections. Now you can walk the immaculate halls and gaze on famous masterpieces of art. With over 2.7 million exhibits, you won’t soon run out of things to see! Sitting on the bank of the Neva River, the palace exterior is brilliantly lit at night.