The Hermitage Museum had a long history. First of all, it contained a collection of palaces belonging to the imperial family; today it is one of the richest museums in the world whose treasures are within the reach of the people. The museum now occupies five buildings, each of which is a true architectural masterpiece. Four of them stand next to each other on the left bank of the Winter Palace built in 1762 by Rastrelli, the Petit Ermitage built in 1769 according to a project by the architect Vallin de la Mothe , the Great (or Old) Hermitage built in 1784 by Velten and the Hermitage Theater of Quarenghi, connected to the Great Hermitage by an arch supporting a covered gallery. The facade of the fifth building - the New Hermitage, built in 1851 by the architects Stassov and Efimov according to a design by Leo von Klenze - overlooks Khaltourine Street (formerly Millionnaia Street), parallel to the Neva. The portico of the New Hermitage is decorated with ten powerful granite figures of Atlanteans, executed after a design by Klenze by Russian sculptors led by Terebenev. Currently the Hermitage can be considered a museum of the history of world culture, from the Stone Age to the present day. Its collections are divided into six: that of Prehistory (mainly containing archaeological finds made on the territory of the Soviet Union), that of Antiquity (containing in particular the treasures extracted from excavations of ancient Roman and Greek cities located on the coast north of the Black Sea), that of the Orient (starting with Egypt and Mesopotamia), that of Russian Culture, that of Western European Art (painting, graphic arts, sculpture and decorative arts) , and that of Numismatics (coins, medals and decorations). The museum's permanent exhibition is displayed in 353 rooms.