The State Hermitage Youth Education Center sculpture and architecture, Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design). This educational program includes meetings with curators of exhibitions, conferences and masterclasses conducted by artists. Recent programs for the exhibitions: On February 1, 2013 The Youth Center launched a new and unique program, "Museum and small museologist", thanks to the initiative of St. Petersburg State University’s Philosophy Department and approved by Director of The Hermitage. This program is directed to students 9 to 11 years old and strives to show them how a contemporary art museum works and what its employees do. During the academic year, the students
Hermitage Museum Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, and Hermitage Theatre—are open to the public. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists costs more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia and Belarus. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, and free daily for students and children. The museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for individual visitors is located in the Winter Palace, accessible from the Courtyard. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or recluse. The word derives from Old French "hermit, ermit" "hermit, recluse", from Late Latin "eremita", from Greek "eremites",