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 (the hut hasn't been destroyed and is a museum), but he soon started to build the Summer Palace, which was located just opposite the hut, on the other side of the Neva River, and later he built a Winter Palace for himself. The central part of the city was supposed to be between the Peter and Paul Fortress and his first house.
Significant streets are Nevsky Prospekt, the heart of the city, and is one of the largest shopping streets in Europe, with department stores like Gostiny Dvor and The Passage. It's also home to the Kazan Cathedral and Anichkov Palace.
Sadovaya Street is a main street in downtown with high traffic, home to Yusupov Palace, Apraksin Dvor department store, and crossing the Sennaya Square; a main square,[1] with entertainment, commercial and many shops.
St Isaac's Square is home to the St Isaac's Cathedral and Mariinsky Palace, and has a monument dedicated to tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
On the other side of the cathedral is the Decembrists Square, next to the Admiralty building, and the location of the Bronze Horseman.
Palace Square is home to the Winter Palace and the Hermitage.
Arts Square is home to the Russian Museum, the Mikhaylovsky Theatre, the Large Concert Hall (Bolshoi Zal) of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Pushkin monument and is not far from the Church of the Savior on Blood.
The Theatre Square is home to the world famous Mariinsky Theatre.