Russia: Hermitage Museum celebrates 256th anniversary

The iconic Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg celebrated its 256th anniversary on Sunday with a grandiose 3-d lighting projection show on its facade showing artistic objects and historical events related to the museum.The projections included Greek and Persian myths related to the museum's collection. They also celebrated great Russian military battles, tsars and commanders, as well as verses of poetry and letters.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the public has been restricted from watching the show first-hand in St. Petersburg's city centre, but organizers have decided to broadcast the show online every hour on the Hermitage website.The show is called "The image of victory in the collections and the history of the Hermitage" and will run until Monday night.The museum dates back to 1764 when it was founded by Empress Catherine the Great.Today, it has one of the largest collections of art objects of any museum in the world.

(Image Credit: AP)