eclecticism came to replace classicism in architecture. Such structures include the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, designed by architect Andrei Stackenschneider in 1846–48 at the corner with the Fontanka. It was the last private palace on Nevsky to be built. During this period, apartment buildings were built on the avenue. Flats or apartments were rented out for profit. The first floors overlooking the avenue were occupied by shop windows. New types of shops appeared on the avenue, which began to be called "passages", the most famous of which was opposite the Gostiny Dvor. The building was designed by architect R.A. Zhelyazevich between 1846–48. Bank buildings have become a common type of specialized structure. House number 62, built in 1896–98 for St. Petersburg-Azov Commercial Bank by architect B.I. Girshovich. In 1874, Alexandrovsky Garden was solemnly opened on the site of Admiralty Square, and over time, its overgrown trees covered the facade of the Admiralty building. In the center of Alexandrovskaya Square in 1873, a monument to Empress Catherine ΙΙ was opened, around which a garden was laid out and tall trees were planted. And today the square is like a large green area, which has occupied almost all the free space, leaving small driveways along the Public Library and the Rossi pavilions. The square near the Kazan Cathedral, which appeared at the end of the 19th century, is decorated in a more tactful style – lawns, bushes and a small fountain in the center. The only square of Nevsky Prospekt, formed during the period of capitalist development, is Znamenskaya Square. Its formation was associated with the appearance in 1851 of the railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow and the construction of the building Nikolaevsky railway station at the corner with Ligovsky canal designed by the architect Konstantin Thon. On the contrary, in the early 1850s, the building of one of the largest in the city Severnaya Hotel was built by the architect A.P. Gemilian. The other two sides of the square were built up with "tenement houses" and hotels. As a result, the area got the shape trapezoid. In 1909, Equestrian monument to the Emperor Alexander III was erected in the center. The history of public transport in St Petersburg began on Nevsky Prospekt. On 27 August 1863, route 1 horse-drawn railway was opened from Nikolaevsky (now Moscow) railway station past Palace Square to Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns. In the