Venice - "It is with great satisfaction that the City officially announces the beginning of the experience of Ermitage Italia in Venice, in the year of the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage Museum" the mayor of Venice said. 
Giorgio Orsoni and Mikhail Piotrovskyin, director of the Russian museum, signed an agreement in St. Petersburg on July 18th, 2013, for the establishment of the Cultural and Scientific Centre "Ermitage Italy ," which has finally announced its arrival in the capital of the Veneto region.

The Foundation, which operated in Ferrara in the past five years, has already assigned over a hundred scholarships and cataloged the Italian works of the Hermitage Italian during its activity, with publications and conferences on this topic.

Among the future projects of the Centre there is a new catalog, which will be available next fall, dedicated to the 17th and 18th century Italian sculptures of the Hermitage. Along with it, the staff is already working on an exhibition of Mariano Fortuny and on another one titled "Glasstress 2015 Gotika".
Finally, Palazzo Ducale will host the conference "The Great Museums of the new millennium " on July 16th, 2014, with the participation of  directors from many international museums.

St. Petersburg will therefore strengthen its cultural ties with Venice, the city that was much loved by Peter the Great, who arrived secretly there in 1696 to draw inspiration for "his" ideal city.