Avenida Revolución (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "Revolution Avenue") is the tourist center in

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

, Baja California, México. It is a main thoroughfare of the historic downtown Tijuana, officially called ''Zona Centro'', which forms part of the ''Delegación Centro'' or Central Borough of Tijuana.

History

Avenida Revolución was the first road in

to be paved, near the beginning of the twentieth century. Originally called Avenida Olvera, it was from its earliest days a popular destination for American tourists who crossed the border from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The avenue's most remarkable development was during the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

of 1920-33, when it was visited by American tourists seeking legal alcohol. The

Caesar salad A Caesar salad (also spelled Cesar, César and Cesare), also known as Caesar's salad, is a green salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with lemon juice (or lime juice), olive oil, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, garlic, Dijon ...

was invented on Avenida Revolución during this period by Caesar Cardini, the Italian-American proprietor of the Hotel Caesar and its restaurant Caesar's. During this period the name of the avenue changed several times in line with political developments in Mexico. In 1920 it became Avenida A. In the late 1920s it became Avenida

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 19 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) was a Mexican general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but was assassinated b ...

and subsequently Avenida Libertad. In 1932 it received its current name. Avenida Revolución has experienced many changes, and is known as the business card of Tijuana, "''The most visited city in the world''". It was known for its famous cantinas, including "''La Ballena''", the largest bar in the world when it was open. The city was popular with American Navy sailors until the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

prohibited sailors from visiting Tijuana. From 1989 to 1994 the Avenida's Baby Rock discothèque was the claimed to be #1 club in the world based on gross revenues,hollywoodoutbreak
28 March 2011 before becoming in 2012 the Onixeus. Jaialaifrontonpalacios

Points of interest

Intersections north to south:

Attractions

The long avenue is home to several distinct attractions, from cantinas and

table dance A table dance, or bartop dance, is a dance performed at (or on) a table or Bar (establishment), bar, as opposed to on a stage. It may be an erotic dance performed by a sex worker or it may be done as a leisure activity. Sex work In strip clubs, a ...

bars to numerous dance clubs and art galleries. A popular tourist attraction is taking a picture with a zonkey, a

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

painted to look like a

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

. Businesses include some remaining handicraft and leather shops, pharmacies catering primarily to Americans, and a branch of the Sanborn's gift emporium and casual restaurant. American stores and fast-food restaurants like

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

and

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

have a presence on the avenue, as they do throughout Tijuana. The shopping arcades lost many of their customers and tenants in the years after 2001 as tourism dropped; however the Pasaje Rodríguez has been repurposed as a design/cultural destination with businesses selling coffee, books, and artisan clothing and other products. El Foro, the former

Jai Alai Jai alai ( : ) is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by ...

Palace, is now a concert venue. Caliente operates two casinos on the avenue. The avenue was remodeled in the mid-2010s, widening the sidewalks, adding bus rapid transit lanes and reducing lanes for car traffic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avenida Revolucion Culture in Tijuana Entertainment districts in Mexico Tourist attractions in Baja California Streets in Mexico 20th-century establishments in Mexico

History

Points of interest

Attractions

See also

References