Ask any muscovite – the city's main street is Tverskaya, running from the Kremlin to Triumphalnaya Square. In the early Middle Ages the road ran to the city of Tver, and by the C15th it already ran to Veliky Novgorod. With the founding of St Petersburg, Tverskaya became the opening section of the road that led to the new Russian capital. The best residences, shops and hotels were built here, and in the days of Russian Empire its victory parades passed along Tverskaya. When street paving came into fashion in the C18th, the logical first choice was, of course, Tverskaya – and it led the way in electric street lighting in 1896 with 99 lamposts. Today's Tverskaya is the central artery of a great metropolis – advertising, swanky shop windows and high-end eateries.