别样风情的古城圣彼得堡

choi

(1) 布鲁克, 别样风情的古城圣彼得堡. VOA Chinese, Aug 31, 2012
http://www.voachinese.com/conten ... 120831/1499173.html

, which is translated from
(2) St. Petersburg Tops Moscow as Russia's Leading Tourist Destination. VOA, Aug 27, 2012 (video).
http://www.voanews.com/media/video/1496694.html?z=2904&zp=1

Note:
(a) History of Saint Petersburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Saint_Petersburg
(In the midst of the Great Northern War [1700-1721, "in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe"  Wiki for the War], Peter the Great took the marshland (with a Swedish fortress and city) from Sweden on May 1, 1703, founded the city on May 27, 1703, named the city after his patron saint, the apostle Saint Peter, and moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712;  "window to Europe")

(b)
(i) Hermitage Museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_museum
(One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852; section 4.1 Origins: Catherine's collection: "Catherine the Great started her art collection in 1764 by purchasing paintings from Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. He had put together the collection for Frederick II of Prussia, but ultimately the latter refused to purchase it. * * * In 1764 Catherine commissioned Yury Velten to build an extension to the east of the Winter Palace, completed in 1766. Later it became the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage")
(ii) Why the name Hermitage?
(A) Timeline; 764 - 1775: Construction of the Small Hermitage. Hermitage Museum, undated.
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/05/hm5_1_4.html
("The two southern and northern pavilions were then connected by construction of a Hanging Garden * * * The whole architectural ensemble * * * is to this day known as the Small Hermitage. Here Catherine II gave entertainments with games and plays, her so-called 'small hermitages' and here she initially housed her first art purchases")
(B) 1764 - 1775: The construction of the Small Hermitage. Tickets of Russia, undated
http://www.ticketsofrussia.ru/hermitage/05/hm5_1_4.html
("Here [in Small Hermitage] Catherine II gave entertainments with games and plays, her so-called 'small hermitages' and here she initially housed her first art purchases")

To sum up, the entertainments were "small hermitages."