Nevsky Prospekt

Why go

Nevsky Prospekt rewards attention to scale, orientation, and setting. Nevsky Prospekt (Не́вский проспе́кт), or the Nevsky Avenue, is the main street in the city of St Petersburg. Before leaving, compare one close detail of Nevsky Prospekt with its broadest public view. At Nevsky Prospekt, a slower circuit makes Nevsky Prospekt's neighborhood relationship easier to read.

What to look for

• Nevsky Prospekt: Take in the whole composition before choosing a focal detail.
• Nevsky Prospekt: Observe repeated windows, columns, arches, or garden axes.
• Nevsky Prospekt: Frame the site together with its nearest public space.

The full story

Nevsky Prospekt (Не́вский проспе́кт), or the Nevsky Avenue, is the main street in the city of St Petersburg. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The chief sights include the Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace, the huge neoclassical Kazan Cathedral, the Art Nouveau Bookhouse (Dom Knigi), Eliseyev Emporium, half a dozen 18th-century churches, a monument to Catherine the Great, an enormous 18th-century shopping mall, a mid-19th-century department store, the Russian National Library, and the Anichkov Bridge with its horse statues. During the early Soviet years (1918–44) it was known as the Avenue of the 25th of October, alluding to the day of the October Revolution. The Nevsky today functions as the main thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg.

Useful to know

• Walk Nevsky Prospekt in daylight, then compare its outline with Kazan Cathedral.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.