What are the Hermitage cats?
Short answer: A colony of cats, numbering more than 70 in recent accounts, that live in the basements of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and keep mice and rats away. The tradition dates back to a decree by Empress Elizabeth in 1745.
Quick facts
- The decree. In 1745, Empress Elizabeth ordered cats to be brought from Kazan to the Winter Palace to deal with rodents.
- The cats today. Recent accounts describe more than 70 cats living in the basements, cared for by museum staff and volunteers, with their own food kitchens and a small clinic.
- Not in the galleries. The cats are kept out of the exhibition halls. Staff are reported to escort them back to staff areas if they wander in.
- A gap and a return. The cats disappeared during the Siege of Leningrad, and rodents took over. Cats were brought back to the museum in the 1950s.
- Cat Day. The museum marks Hermitage Cat Day in late spring, when the basements are opened to visitors.
Student report
I applied to the Hermitage for an internship and was told the position was already filled by seventy cats. I was, however, permitted to observe.
The cats have an elaborate structure of seniority based, as far as I could tell, on proximity to warm pipes. I was given a place near a radiator on the strength of my references.
The staff take the care of the cats very seriously, and I would like to record my admiration for the volunteer who was, at the time of my visit, carrying a bowl of what appeared to be a special diet.