Bahnhofstrasse is Zurich's main downtown street and one of the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues. In 2011, a study named the Bahnhofstrasse the most expensive street for retail property in Europe, and the third most expensive worldwide. In 2016 ranked ninth. It came into existence when the city fortifications were demolished in 1864 and the ditch in front of the walls was filled in.