Street Appia Antica, the "Regina viarum”Which connected in antiquity Roma (Porta Capena, near the Circus Maximus) a Toast, could become UNESCO World Heritage Site. The application process was initiated by Ministry of Culture, with the involvement of 4 regions, Common 74, 12 city, 15 parks e 25 universities. The way, long 120.000 km (including branches), had already been registered in 2006 in the propositive list of Italy. The Small has now decided to nominate the Via Appia Antica as "serial site". It is in fact a specific typology of UNESCO foreseen in the operational guidelines of the Convention for the protection of the cultural and natural heritage from 1972. The Via Appia is in fact an example of a masterpiece of ancient engineering, which later became a model for the construction of all the roads in the Roman world.

Via Appia Antica in Rome with pine trees.
Photo: © Radosław Botev - Wikimedia Commons

The agriculture minister Dario Franceschini, in a note released by the press office of the Mic, he commented on this very important candidacy for the longest and most important road of ancient Rome"The Appian Way is an itinerary to be enhanced and placed at the center of slow tourism to strengthen the offer of new attractions such as sustainable paths and routes, fundamental for the cultural development of inland areas, but also for the protection of our heritage. . Regina Viarum unites territories rich in an extraordinary cultural, archaeological and landscape heritage and has the characteristics to become one of the greatest European paths".

Via Appia Antica: a road of immense historical and archaeological value

Built in 312 BC. by the censor Appio Claudio Blind, the Appian Way is one of the most important roads in the whole ancient world. First example of "via public”, It was wide 4,1 meters (14 Roman feet) and allowed traffic in both directions. The Via Appia was very important both for military purposes and for trade. The connection with the territories of the Magna Grecia also had a strong cultural impact, bringing Rome closer to Greek culture. In the 108 AD the emperor Trajan he then built a branch of the Via Appia, which he connected Benevento a Toast (via Trajan) passing through the Apulian coast. Along the Via Appia there are various monuments and sites of archaeological interest, such as the Baths of Caracalla, Tomb of the Scipios, Catacombs of San Callisto, Villa of Maxentius, Temple of Hercules Victor, Catacombs , basilica of San Sebastiano and much more.

The Mic has decided to invest huge economic resources in the restoration of some of these monuments and archaeological sites of the Via Appia Antica. If the application were to be successful, the Regina Viarum would therefore be added to other important Italian serial sites as an example i Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, The Dolomites, Arab-Norman Palermo and the cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale and Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany (just to name a few). After the official candidacy by the Ministry of Culture, the ball now passes into the hands of the UNESCO commission. The answer (hopefully positive) is expected in the coming months.

Featured photo: © BKP - Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Via Appia Antica: UNESCO heritage candidacy process started last edit: 2022-05-09T09:00:00+02:00 da Antonello Ciccarello

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