Bolshoy Gostinyy Dvor

Located just across from the Grand Hotel Europe this monolith shopping center was the world’s first mall and covers almost one-kilometer of Nevsky Prospekt. Inside, there are 3,000 vendors laid out in a seemingly random and labyrinthine order (you can get your keys cut, flowers arranged and reproduction art framed in three short side steps), so a visit to BGD (as it is known) is more about admiring the beautiful colonnade building designed by Francesco Bartolomeo and the day-to-day routines of Piter locals than it is a shopping destination.