St Petersburg, Russia – The second exhibition within the Oman Hall Initiative at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, titled The Omani Empire between Asia and Africa, attracted 414,481 visitors between December 2023 and January 2025.

Visitors from around the world expressed admiration for the unique museum collections, which showcased Oman’s rich history and its influence as a maritime empire. The exhibition featured 28 artefacts from the Al Yaruba and Al Busaidi periods, highlighting Oman’s role in connecting the Arabian Peninsula, West Asia, and East Africa from the 17th to the 19th century.

Following the success of the first Oman Hall exhibition, inaugurated on 2 June 2021, this latest edition reaffirmed the strong cultural ties between Oman’s National Museum and the State Hermitage Museum.

The State Hermitage Museum, one of the world’s largest and oldest museums, houses over three million masterpieces and welcomes around 5.3 million visitors annually.