Via Appia. Regina Viarum - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Brief synthesis

The serial property Via Appia. Regina Viarum is the oldest Roman road whose route is beyond doubt and among the first created. Built under the authority of the Censor Appius Claudius Caecus from 312 BCE onwards, the Via Appia was originally conceived as a strategic road for military conquest, connecting, via the most direct route, Rome to Capua. As Rome was continuing its territorial expansion, the Via Appia was extended towards Beneventum, Tarentum and Brundisium, thereby paving the way to conquest of the East and Asia Minor. The Via Appia, once the territories conquered by Rome had been stabilized, rapidly became a key route for trade and territorial and cultural development, and was open to everyone to use toll-free. In 109 CE, Emperor Trajan inaugurated the Via Traiana, an extension of the Via Appia intended to connect Beneventum to Brundisium more easily along the Adriatic coast.

Roman engineering resources were fully harnessed to build the Via Appia and Via Traiana, involving sweeping land reclamation works, the construction of major civil engineering works and the use of the most enduring and innovative techniques to build the carriageway. In addition, the road was equipped with numerous amenities to facilitate travel. At many points along it were military milestones indicating distances, fountains for people and animals, and way stations which were soon converted into accommodation and stopping places for travellers. A series of necropolises and funerary sites developed around the road and religious sanctuaries were established on the outskirts of towns. The road set the stage for a vast series of monumental works to be built, and enabled the cities it connected to grow too. New settlements emerged in connection with the Via Appia and an official land division system was introduced.

The Via Appia continued to be used throughout the centuries. It remains an access route to rural villages. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Church of Rome relied on it to spread Christianity by reviving agriculture. From the 11th century, the buildings lining the road were repurposed as defensive structures, and pilgrims and Crusaders travelled along it on the way to the Holy Land. Amid renewed interest in antiquity and its monuments during the Renaissance, the Papacy had restoration works carried out on the road due to its spiritual and historical value for Christianity. In the 16th century, the idea of archaeological conservation of the road began to take shape.

The Via Appia assumed significance in the collective memory, whether in literary or iconographic terms, or even musically speaking. It became a key stage of the Grand Tour.

Criterion (iii): The Via Appia. Regina Viarum is among the most enduring testimonies that Roman civilisation has bequeathed to posterity. Its construction was a feat of engineering and technical design which had an influence over much of the Mediterranean for more than a thousand years. The route is lined with all the structural and urban typologies that are characteristic of Roman civilisation.

Criterion (iv): The Via Appia. Regina Viarum bears witness to the outstanding organisational capabilities and administrative efficiency of Roman civilisation. The Via Appia is an example of the innovative technical prowess developed by Rome, the construction of which, in addition to the infrastructures directly associated with it, served as a point of reference for the division of land assigned to army veterans and promoted the regulation and aggregation of new urban residential areas along its course as it was often chosen as a decumanus. The Via Appia thus shaped the development of the ancient cities it connected or which were associated with it. The Via Appia is also accompanied by a monumental ensemble of temples, funerary monuments, aqueducts and villas, and at city entrances, triumphal arches, gates or such amenities as theatres, amphitheatres or baths which all bear witness to an age-old civilisation.

Criterion (vi): The Via Appia. Regina Viarum was a major vector for the spread of ideas and beliefs. It played a key role in the spread of the Christian religion and provided passage to the Holy Land for the Crusaders and huge numbers of pilgrims. Representative of Rome’s power, the Via Appia was symbolically used from the 16th century onwards by numerous victorious generals or monarchs to celebrate their power or their victories. The Via Appia was celebrated by artists of the Renaissance. An object of study for archaeologists, architects and academics, it has fascinated generations of visitors embarking on their Grand Tour.

Integrity

The component parts of the Via Appia. Regina Viarum present notable differences in terms of size and character, which may be natural or urban. Their attributes differ in number, quality or significance and by their state of conservation. They all play a part in representing the Via Appia in its character, course and coherence. The component parts illustrate the major infrastructural achievement that is the Via Appia and its impact on the economic, social and political development of the regions conquered by Rome. The attributes are for the most part archaeological vestiges. They are identifiable and present a good state of conservation.

Authenticity

The Via Appia. Regina Viarum encompasses a vast ensemble of archaeological sites which still retain a number of attributes that are representatives of the role and functions of the road and the wider territory which was able to develop thanks to it. In this context, the initial concept and form have evolved over time but remain nevertheless. The same can be said for the materials and the substance. The road’s primary function concerns the movement of people, goods and ideas. This has evolved without ever disappearing completely over the centuries of its use. Uses have evolved in terms of their motivation but not in terms of their purpose. The wealth of information and knowledge obtained about the Via Appia over the centuries through scientific research and also artistic and literary works also contributes to its authenticity.

Protection and management requirements

The component parts of the Via Appia. Regina Viarum are protected under the Code of the Cultural Heritage and Landscape (Codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio), drafted pursuant to the Law of 6 July 2002. The Ministry of Culture is responsible for the protection and conservation of cultural heritage, irrespective of ownership of the sites, guaranteed through the local offices for archaeology, fine arts and landscape (Soprintendenze), and coordinated centrally by the Directorate-General for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape. This includes the definition and application of national standards for conservation, restoration and safeguarding to ensure the integrity of the property. Moreover, the Ministry of Culture is responsible for the presentation of its own cultural properties, thereby contributing to the overall management and promotion of the whole of the Via Appia. The regions, together with the local offices of the Ministry of Culture (the Soprintendenze), are in charge of planning related to landscape and cultural properties, via Regional Landscape Plans.

Any modification or transformation is subject to an authorisation, a prerequisite to obtaining the building permit, which is issued by the region or, by delegation, a local authority (province or municipality) and is subject to agreement from the Soprintendenze.  Lastly, environmental protection measures concerning the serial property and the buffer zones are provided for in the framework of Natura 2000 areas, natural protected areas and those defined by the Regional Territorial Landscape Plan (PTPR).

The management system provides for the designation of a single body as the focal point for coordinating the property’s management. The role of this structure will be to maintain coordination between the different stakeholders and to carry out actions as part of a network to ensure the overall conservation and promotion of the management plan. It will oversee and manage the network of stakeholders and associated institutions.