Central Saint Petersburg is the central and the leading part of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It looks nothing like the downtown district of a typical major city, and has no

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

. The Central Business District's main borders are Neva River to the north and west, and the

Fontanka River The Fontanka (russian: Фонтанка), a left branch of the river Neva, flows through the whole of Central Saint Petersburg, Russia – from the Summer Garden to . It is long, with a width up to , and a depth up to . The Moyka River fo ...

to the south and east, but the downtown includes areas outside.

History

The Central Saint Petersburg is the oldest part of the city after the Peter and Paul Fortress. When people were starting to populate Saint Petersburg they built their houses around the almost only building outside the fortress; the Admiralty building. The largest industry was ship building. The first residence of Peter the Great was a little

hut A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

(the hut hasn't been destroyed and is a museum), but he soon started to build the

Summer Palace The Summer Palace () is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill () Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of , three-quarte ...

, which was located just opposite the hut, on the other side of the Neva River, and later he built a

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...

for himself. The central part of the city was supposed to be between the Peter and Paul Fortress and his first house.

Overview

The CBS is an area with many old buildings and has beautiful parks like the

Summer Garden The Summer Garden (russian: Ле́тний сад, ''Letniy sad'') is a historic public garden that occupies an eponymous island between the Neva, Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in downtown Saint Petersburg, Russia and shares its name w ...

, Field of Mars and Mikhailovsky Garden. It is also the wealthiest area in Saint Petersburg, home to luxury hotels like Hotel Astoria and

Grand Hotel Europe The Grand Hotel Europe, A Belmond Hotel (russian: Гранд Отель Европа) is a historic Hotel rating, five-star luxury hotel on Nevsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, Russia. History One of the great hotels of 19th-century Europe, ...

. It has always been a wealthy district since the rich noble Russians built their mansions here. Administratively, the Saint Petersburg central business district falls under the authority of Tsentralny and the

Admiralteysky District Admiralteysky District (russian: Адмиралте́йский райо́н) is a district of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population: was 157,897; down from 187,837 recorded in the 200 ...

s. The CBS is also a main traffic hub, with

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

ways,

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

es,

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es,

marshrutka ''Marshrutka''Moscow Rail Terminal.

Streets and squares

Significant streets are

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. It takes its name from the Alexander Nevsky L ...

, the heart of the city, and is one of the largest shopping streets in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, with department stores like Gostiny Dvor and The Passage. It's also home to the Kazan Cathedral and

Anichkov Palace The Anichkov Palace, a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, stands at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka River. History 18th century The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira (1682?-1745), ...

Sadovaya Street Sadovaya Street or Garden Street is a major thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg, Russia, passing through the historic city center. From east to west, it begins near the Field of Mars, crosses the Moika River at the First Sadovy Bridge, then pas ...

is a main street in downtown with high traffic, home to Yusupov Palace,

Apraksin Dvor Apraksin Yard (also Apraxin Dvor; russian: Апраксин Двор) is a market and retail block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, currently under a massive long-term renovation project. The buildings of Apraksin Dvor nestle between Sadovaya Stre ...

department store, and crossing the

Sennaya Square Sennaya Square or Sennaya Ploshchad (russian: Сeннáя Плóщадь, literally: ''Hay Square''), known as ''Peace Square'' between 1963 and 1991, is a large city square in Central Saint Petersburg, located at the crossing of Garden Stree ...

; a main square, with entertainment, commercial and many shops. St Isaac's Square is home to the St Isaac's Cathedral and

Mariinsky Palace Mariinsky Palace (), also known as Marie Palace, was the last neoclassical Imperial residence to be constructed in Saint Petersburg. It was built between 1839 and 1844, designed by the court architect Andrei Stackenschneider. It houses the ci ...

, and has a monument dedicated to tsar

Nicholas I of Russia , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

. On the other side of the cathedral is the

Decembrists Square Senate Square (russian: Сенатская площадь), formerly known as Decembrists' Square (Площадь Декабристов) from the 1920s to 2008, and (formally) as Peter's Square (Петровская площадь), from 1782 to ...

, next to the Admiralty building, and the location of the ''

Bronze Horseman The ''Bronze Horseman'' (russian: link=no, Медный всадник, literally "copper horseman") is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 (18) August ...

''.

Palace Square Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐˈrtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersb ...

is home to the

and the Hermitage. Arts Square is home to the

Russian Museum The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...

, the Mikhaylovsky Theatre, the Large Concert Hall (Bolshoi Zal) of the

St. Petersburg Philharmonic The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...

, the

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

monument and is not far from the Church of the Savior on Blood. The Theatre Square is home to the world famous

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

References

{{coord missing, Saint Petersburg Geography of Saint Petersburg

Financial districts in Russia Economy of Saint Petersburg

History

Overview

Streets and squares

See also

References