The Admiralty is the long, golden-spired neoclassical building between Senate Square and Palace Square, with a 72-metre spire that serves as the visual anchor of central St Petersburg. Three of the city's main avenues — Nevsky Prospekt, Gorokhovaya Street, and Voznesensky Avenue — all radiate outward from its facade. The current building, by Andreyan Zakharov, dates from 1806–1823 and replaced Peter the Great's original shipyard on the same site.
The Admiralty is still in active use as the headquarters of the Russian Navy and is not open to visitors. But its lawns and the adjacent Alexander Garden are pleasant places to walk and offer the city's best perspective on the spire and its weathervane — a small gilded frigate that has become the unofficial emblem of St Petersburg.