Yeliseyev Emporium

This lavish Art Nouveau grocery hall on Nevsky Prospekt was built in the early twentieth century by the wealthy Yeliseyev merchant family as a temple to fine food. Its glass-fronted facade, decorated with allegorical bronze figures, opens onto an ornate interior of stained glass, chandeliers and richly carved fittings that survive largely intact. Long a symbol of imperial-era luxury retail, it continued as a state food store before restoration as a gourmet emporium.