Avenida 18 de Julio, or 18 de Julio Avenue, is the most important avenue in Montevideo, Uruguay.[1] It is named after the date when the country's first Constitution was sworn in, on July 18, 1830.
It starts from Plaza Independencia at the limits of the Ciudad Vieja (the Old City), crosses the barrios Centro and Cordón and ends at the Obelisk of Montevideo in Tres Cruces, where it meets Artigas Boulevard.[2] Although not the widest or longest avenue of the city, it is considered as the most important of Montevideo, both as a commercial center and because of the many tourist attractions along its length.[3] It is also the district of Montevideo, as well as Ciudad Vieja, where art deco architecture is best preserved, an example of which is the Rinaldi, Díaz and Salvo palaces.[4]
History
Avenida 18 de Julio was conceived as the axis of the "New City", after the 1829 Constituent Assembly decreed the demolition of the city's walls and fortifications.[5] The avenue was designed in a straight line, up to Médanos Street (current Javier Various Amorín St.) where it forked between Camino Maldonado (east extension of current 18 de Julio Avenue) and Estanzuela (current Constituent Avenue).[6]
With the expansion of the city, the Plaza de Cagancha was chosen as the nerve center, which is why the "zero kilometer" of Uruguay was established there, where the country's road system begins.[7] In the center of the square stands the Statue of Peace with a total height of 17 meters and inaugurated in 1867 in tribute to the peace that ended the civil war between the "traditional parties" —the National and the Colorado— two years earlier.[8]
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