St. Petersburg: What’s in a Name? - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 148

streets have their own rewards, giving visitors a glimpse of communal courtyards accessed
through tunnel-like entryways.
Figure 10.3. Nevsky Prospekt
The city's longest street (2.5 miles) is Nevsky Prospekt, the site of some of St. Peters-
burg's most elegant shops. The Singer Sewing Machine building, constructed in 1907, is
crowned by a huge dome; inside is the busiest bookstore that a visitor is ever likely to en-
counter. At the far eastern end of the Nevsky is the monastery dedicated to Alexander of the
Neva (Alexander Nevsky), who defeated Teutonic invaders in 1240. (In the monastery lies
Nevsky's outsize silver casket.) At number 56 Nevsky Prospekt is a food store whose Art
Nouveau interior is a pilgrimage for lovers of a bygone era. At Kazan Square, with a colon-
nade resembling that of St. Peter's in Rome, is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. Its
classical architecture stands in stark contrast to the nearby Church of the Resurrection (the
Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood). The Church of the Resurrection is modeled
after St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, replete with swirling, colored domes, starbursts on
the roofs, and an overall profusion of ornament.