Via Appia

Though I visited Rome several times, it was still not enough to visit all the interesting places in Rome, not to mention the places around. In May 2023, I traveled to Salento region in the Southern Italy, so I took opportunity and did a stop in Brindisi. This place was the end of extended Via Appia, and the reason why Brindisi was connected to Rome was a possibility to travel to Greece and the East by sailing from the local port.

Brindisi is now important port and tourist spot. One can find however several interesting monuments spanning two millennia in the relatively small and rather unassuming historical core. The only site related to Via Appia that could be seen is its "official" end marked by giant two columns (PHOTO). Well, only one is remaining because the second one was moved to nearby Lecce and used as a base for the statue of Saint Oronzo.

As clearly evident, there is not much to see from Via Appia in Brindisi, and it is necessary to visit other components to get OUV of this tentative site.

Besides the columns in Brindisi, I could see small remaining of Roman pavement, the part of side branches of Via Appia, in Bari on Piazza del Ferrarese. Hopefully, the strategy of the state party of Italy will not follow the way paved by Danube Limes WHS, where every single stone is included as the separate component.

I visited this tWHS in 2022. Most probably I had already passed by Porta San Sebastiano and the rather ugly and urban part of the Via Appia several times in the past, but I had no photos and no real idea what possible OUV this site has to offer. So this time round, I allowed a full day to hike as much as possible and check it out. Be advised that the way, although almost flat, can get muddy so sturdy hiking shoes will certainly help.

The Appian Way in Rome is an ancient road built in 312 b.C. by Appius Claudius Caecus. The city’s gateway to the East connected Rome with Capua. It stretched from the Roman Forum for 400 miles to Brindisi, where ships sailed to Egypt and Greece, and it served as a military and economic artery. The Appian Way was revolutionary for that period and was the first Roman road to feature lime cement. The natural starting point when staying in Rome proper is going to be Porta Latina or Porta San Sebastiano. The walls near the latter are far more stunning than the first part of the old Via Appia, so much so that there is an interesting Museo delle Mura inside. The constant traffic at the rather narrow two-way road, the lack of pavements sometimes, and the amount of bicycles and/or scooters might put you off at first as the only worthy monuments left to see are a replica of the Colonna del …

My trip mates were surprised to hear that Rome only has one WHS (two if you count the Vatican as well). So many great monuments that could be WHS on their own! However, if all goes to Italy’s plan, the city will have another one in 2024: the Via Appia. This “revolution in road construction” will be a serial nomination of 22 stretches between Rome and Brindisi. It will be interesting to see whether there is a core zone overlap with the Rome WHS, as the Via Appia traditionally started at the Forum Romanum. The road with the name ‘Via Appia Antica’ now starts from the edge of the city at Porta San Sebastiano, a gate passing through the Aurelian Walls.

During my 2022 trip to Rome, I visited just a short section of the Via Appia. It’s not easy to do so on foot, as the road is narrow without room for a pavement and there is constant vehicle traffic. The sights also are spread out miles apart. You’ll encounter many cyclists (often in guided groups and not well-trained in cycling), who seem to have chosen the best way to explore this linear site.

Fortunately, bus #118 travels part of the ancient road, and we took it from the Baths of Caracalla. After 4km, we disembarked near a field that turned out to be the Circus of Maxentius. It has the remains of a chariot racetrack and a mausoleum. This area in Antiquity was a well-to-do suburb. …

The Via Appia was the first and one of the most important road systems built by the ancient Romans. I'm not sure whether Italy will ever submit this tentative site for inscription, if so, certainly the entire road network will be included. During our trip to Rome in November 2013, we visited the Via Appia Antica, a 16 km long section of the ancient road starting at the Porta San Sebastiano. Actually we wanted to visit only the Catacombs of Callixtus, but the weather was warm and sunny, so we decided to rent bicycles and to explore a stretch of the ancient road. There is a tourist information (Via Appia Antica 58), where we rented the bikes and picked up a map showing the monuments along the road, the bus 118 (from metro Circo Massimo) stops in front of the tourist information.

The first section of the Via Appia is a busy street, the scenic part begins at the church of San Sebastiano. From there, the car traffic is restricted to residents. We enjoyed our bicycle ride, you have to drive slowly, because there are bumpy cobblestones throughout or you have to use the green strip along the road. We rented mountain bikes, a good decision. There is still the ancient paving in some sections, you can see the deep grooves from the wheels of the heavy waggons (photo).

In ancient Rome, it was forbidden to bury the dead in the city, so the tombs were built along the main …