The Winter Palace, seat of the Hermitage Museum since the October Revolution, is very impressive with its long pistachio green facade dotted with 400 immaculate white columns. It was built by Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli between 1754 and 1762 in the Baroque style that was in vogue at the time, on a commission from Empress Elizabeth. Its grand proportions - its outer walls measure some 2km - are only equalled by the variety of its ornamentation (columns, bas-reliefs, vases, statues).