Ybor City, Historic district in Tampa, United States
Ybor City is a historic district in Tampa, Florida, where streets are lined with multistory brick buildings featuring wrought iron balconies and decorated facades. Cobbled alleys run between the old factory structures that now house restaurants, bars and small shops.
A Spanish entrepreneur founded the district in 1885 after fleeing Key West and brought his cigar industry here. Within two decades, dozens of factories opened and drew tens of thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Spain, Italy and other countries.
The neighborhood takes its name from Vicente Martínez-Ybor, a Spanish entrepreneur who built cigar factories here in the late 19th century. Street names like Calle de Fortunato and Avenida República de Cuba recall the Cuban, Spanish and Italian workers who moved here and kept their languages alive in everyday life.
Most of the district can be explored on foot, as the main sights, restaurants and shops sit within a few blocks of each other. The area around Seventh Avenue becomes busier in the evening and draws a younger crowd, while daytime brings a quieter rhythm.
Free-roaming chickens wander the streets and sidewalks, protected by local rules that forbid chasing or catching them. You can often see them resting under benches or pecking for crumbs between the tables at outdoor cafes.
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