Catherine the Great (reigned from 1772-1776) was an avid art collector and as her collection grew so did the Hermitage. It would take you 12 years to view the entire collection if you spent only 5 seconds looking at each piece. During World War II, all of the paintings were moved to the Ural Mountains to keep them safe from German attack. Russian soldiers on leave from the warfront visited the museum and guides continued to give their tours even though there was nothing to see. They would stop in front of the space where each painting had been hanging and talk about its beauty. Soldiers would listen to the vivid descriptions and leave feeling as though they had seen the work of art. Angelina's favorite paintings were the Monet's, Candy loved the Van Gogh's and Shay was impressed with the malachite room. Malachite is a beautiful green stone found in the mountains of Russia. The museum has a room devoted to Canova statues. Canova is the sculptor who did the statue of George Washington in our capitol building in Raleigh . Angelina pulled us all over to the window to see a bride and groom who were in the plaza laying flowers at the foot of the Alexander Victory Monument. It's a tradition in Russia for newly married couples to visit historic sites and honor Russia's past. As we left the Hermitage, we looked up and saw all of the statues lining the edge of the roof. It was as if they were saying good-bye to us and telling us to hurry back.