Scythian Gold and the Gold Rooms at the Hermitage

The Gold Rooms (the Golden Treasure Gallery) are a special treasury of the Hermitage devoted to the gold of ancient cultures. They are part of the Treasure Gallery, and you can visit only on a guided session with a separate ticket: there is no open entry, and you must book ahead.

What’s inside

The Gold Rooms hold gold that is two and a half thousand years old and more. The heart of it is the famous Scythian gold: ornaments, weapons, vessels and ritual objects of the nomadic peoples of the Black Sea steppes. Among the celebrated pieces:

• the gold comb from the Solokha kurgan, with a miniature battle scene on its crest — a masterpiece of ancient goldwork;
• figures of deer and beasts in the Scythian “animal style”;
• treasures from famous burial mounds such as Kul-Oba near Kerch.

Alongside the Scythian material, the rooms show Greek, Eastern and Siberian gold — works of enormous geographic and chronological range. Each piece is both a work of art and a historical document: from this gold scholars reconstruct how peoples who left no written records looked, believed and fought. Here gold is not mere luxury but a way to glimpse a vanished world of steppe nomads.

Who were the Scythians

The Scythians were nomadic peoples who lived in the Black Sea steppes from about the 7th to the 3rd century BC. They had no cities and no writing, but they did have a warrior elite, buried in huge earthen mounds (kurgans) together with gold, weapons and horse trappings — and it is from these mounds that most of the treasury’s gold comes. A hallmark of their art is the “animal style”: figures of deer, predators and griffins that read as power, speed and the fury of the hunt.

Greek goldsmiths for the steppe elite

Many of the golden masterpieces were made not by the Scythians themselves but by Greek goldsmiths of the Black Sea colonies, working to order for the steppe aristocracy. So on pieces like the Solokha comb we see Scythian warriors through Greek eyes — with finely worked faces, armour and horses. The treasures of the famous mounds (Kul-Oba near Kerch and others) are a fusion of two cultures, the steppe and the classical.

The Siberian Collection of Peter the Great

A special pride of the rooms is the Siberian Collection of Peter the Great: gold ornaments of nomads that began to be found in Siberian mounds in the early 18th century. Ancient pieces were often melted down for their metal by grave-robbers; to stop these losses, Peter the Great ordered by special decree that finds be brought to the court and paid for. So formed one of the first scholarly collections of antiquities in Russia, long before archaeology was a science.

How to visit

A visit to the Gold Rooms works like the Diamond Room:

1. on the official website choose the Gold Rooms tour and a session (the time is printed on the ticket);
2. book ahead — the groups are small and fill up quickly;
3. arrive for the start of the session: the tour runs to schedule, and latecomers may not be admitted.

A separate ticket is required (in addition to Main Complex entry), and tours are usually in Russian. Confirm the exact price, session times and booking conditions on the official website.

Not to be confused with the Diamond Room

The Treasure Gallery has two different displays, often confused:

• the Gold Rooms — gold of the Scythians, the ancient East, classical antiquity and Siberia;
• the Diamond Room — European and Russian jewellery art, regalia and Fabergé.

Both are by guided session and separate ticket — and they are two separate bookings.

How to find it

The treasure galleries are in the Winter Palace and open on the museum’s normal days (closed Monday; see opening hours). Plan the rest of your route with the one-day itinerary and the floor plan.

FAQ

Can I visit the Gold Rooms without a tour? No. Entry is by session only, in a guided group, with a separate ticket.

What is Scythian gold? Gold objects of the ancient nomads of the Black Sea steppes — ornaments, weapons and vessels in the “animal style”, over two thousand years old.

How do the Gold Rooms differ from the Diamond Room? The Gold Rooms hold ancient gold (Scythian, Eastern, classical, Siberian); the Diamond Room holds European and Russian jewellery art and regalia.

Do I need to book in advance? Yes — sessions are small and fill quickly; booking is done on the official website.

Is the separate ticket worth it? If you are interested in archaeology and ancient gold, yes: a collection of Scythian treasure like this exists almost nowhere else.

This is an unofficial, informational website. Prices, session times and booking conditions change — confirm them on the official museum website before your visit.