Gostiny Dvor

This enormous eighteenth-century arcaded department store on Nevsky Prospekt is one of the oldest shopping complexes in the world still in use, its two storeys of galleries wrapping an entire city block. Begun to a design refined by Vallin de la Mothe, its long yellow arcades once housed hundreds of merchants' stalls and remain a busy retail landmark. Repeatedly restored after fire and war, its sweeping colonnades also serve as a familiar meeting place on the avenue.