Great Gostiny Dvor

Great Gostiny Dvor (Russian: Большой Гостиный Двор) is a vast department store on Nevsky Avenue in St Petersburg, Russia.

Sprawling at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Sadovaya Street for over one kilometer and embracing the area of 53,000 m2 (570,000 sq ft), the indoor complex of more than 100 shops took twenty-eight years to construct.

Building works commenced in 1757 to an elaborate design by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, but that subsequently was discarded in favour of a less expensive and more functional Neoclassical design submitted by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe (1729–1800).

During the post-World War II reconstructions, its inner walls were demolished and a huge shopping mall came into being.

This massive 18th-century structure received a face-lift and entered the 21st century as one of the most fashionable shopping centres in Eastern Europe.