Nevsky Prospect () is the main street (high street) in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. It takes its name from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the monastery which stands at the eastern end of the street, and which in turn commemorates the Russian hero Prince Saint Alexander Nevsky (1221–1263). Following his founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703, Tsar Peter I planned the course of the street as the beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow. The avenue runs from the Admiralty in the west to the Moscow Railway Station and, after veering slightly southwards at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. History of the street 18th century Early 18th century. Reign of Peter the Great On September 5, 1704, Admiralty of the Saint Petersburg was laid on the left bank of the Neva River. The area adjacent to the fortress began to be built up. In the area of modern and streets, settlements of ship craftsmen appeared, which were wooden houses and hut with front gardens. On the site of Palace Square a "Sea" market appeared, with huts and chests, wagons with firewood and hay stood. The area near the Admiralty became one of the most densely populated parts of the city. In the early 1710s, a monastery (the future Alexander Nevsky Lavra) appeared on the left bank of the Neva at the confluence of the Chernaya Rechka (now it is Monastyrka river). In those days, it was assumed that the famous Battle of the Neva took place at this place in 1240, where the Russian squad led by the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky defeated the Swedes ... Near the monastery there was a whole settlement with wooden houses for workers and servants, as well as a garden and a vegetable garden with numerous outbuildings: carpentry, blacksmith's and cattle yards, a saw mill, a cellar, trade shops. It became necessary to connect the two city centers with the old Novgorodsky tract (which ran approximately along the route of the modern Ligovsky prospect), which led inland. By imperial command, the construction of clearings began, which went through the swampy forest. The most swampy areas were in the area of modern Kazansky Cathedral, Mikhailovskaya Street, especially in the area between Ligovsky Prospect and Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which were a continuous chain of swamps. In 1712 the monks of the monastery began to pave the road from the monastery