Catherine the Greatest

Today we visited an exhibition about Catherine the Greatest, tsarina of Russia for 34 years.

In Amsterdam there's a museum called De Hermitage. An old square building has been renovated and opened as De Hermitage in 2009. It has a unique agreement with The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Our museum is allowed access to their collection and vaults for exhibitions here. We've already seen some very interesting exhibitions.

In this exhibition were several personal items, belonging to the tsarina. They're on display in the glass cases in the middle of this room. Dresses, cabinets for storing little items, a toiletry set, her desk. On the walls paintings of her, her (12 subsequent) lovers and paintings she collected. As a matter of fact she collected lots of art, she's the one that started The Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

On the audio tour we heard the story of how a 14 year old Prussian princess marries a tsar to be, gets bored and reads many books, thus getting enlightened by Voltaire and other philosophists. She decides to overthrow her husband and reigns the country for 34 years.

Very interesting!