Hermitage Museum the honor was awarded to the city of Ferrara which proposed its Castle Estense as the base. Since then, the new institution called "Ermitage Italia" started a research and scientific collaboration with the Hermitage foundation. Hermitage-Vyborg Center was opened in June 2010 in Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast. A Hermitage branch is due to open in Vladivostok by 2016, and the regional government has allocated more than Rb17.7 million ($558,000) for preliminary reconstruction work on a mansion in Vladivostok’s historic downtown district to house the satellite. The Hermitage-Siberia is due to open in Omsk in 2016. In recent years, there have been
Hermitage cats 2007, the museum began adopting cats needing homes. In 2011, the museum began a "Catfest", a celebration of its cat population. "Catfest" has included cat painting contests and scavenger hunts for children. Beginning in 2015, because of the number of visiting tourists, a website has been set up by the museum for people who may be interested in adopting a cat. “It is an honor to adopt a Hermitage cat,” one potential cat owner was told. Other cats kept to deter mice in public buildings include: Hermitage cats The Hermitage cats () are a group of cats residing in the