Did you know that the layout of St. Petersburg was based on the city plan of Amsterdam? Tsar Peter the Great apparently liked the canals and alleyways of our fair city so much, he decided to build his new portal to the west in Amsterdam’s image. Legend says he was puzzled when the end result didn’t resemble the original until he realized he had forgotten the trees.

Anyhow, the Amsterdam Hermitage isn’t just a pretty building that’s physical proof of the longstanding bond between the two cities, it’s a museum filled with works on loan from the Hermitage’s enormous collection, which was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great bought 200 paintings at an auction in Berlin. The collection encompasses paintings from the great masters, impressionists and post-impressionists but also antiquities, exotic art from the Far East and great quantities of silver and golden artifacts.

The Hermitage itself is yet another museum currently under renovation: it’s supposed to be back in action on the 20th of June 2009 on a new location at the Amstelhof, while the old location will become the Hermitage for kids.