boulevard

Broad landscaped avenue that typically permits several lanes of vehicular traffic as well as pedestrian walkways. The earliest boulevards originally followed the city walls (the word originally meant “bulwark”) and were built in the ancient Middle East, especially at Antioch. In Paris, straight and geometrically precise boulevards were incorporated into design principles taught at the École des Beaux-Arts, and they form a prominent feature of the city. Similar boulevards are found in other cities such as Washington, D.C. Formal curving boulevards are a feature of such cities as Vienna and Prague.

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