The main path through the terraced French Garden leads to the Hermitage. It was erected between 1744 and 1756 by architects Kvasov, Chevakinskiy and Rastrelli, and was designed for Empress Elizabeth who used to arrange here gala receptions and dinners for the selective members of the court and important foreign guests.
Like the Hermitage in Peterhof, it had a device for raising both dinner tables and guests to the upper floor. Five tables could be raised mechanically from the ground floor and fixed to these were slates on which the guests could write their orders to the servants below. In this way privacy was ensured for those dining at the invitation of the tsar. The dishes served were most exotic including such delicacies as nightingales’ tongues and young elk lips. After the meal the tables were lowered again and the upper room became a ballroom.
    The exterior of the Hermitage echoes the Catherine Palace in color. Its blue walls harmonize beautifully with the white of its sixty-four columns, and its facade is ornamented with wreathes, masks and shells.