discovering the Appian Way, the first highway in history

It is the oldest road in the world and one of the most beautiful walks in Europe. In Italy, the Appian Way is an 8 km path, still preserved from mass tourism. It allows takers to grant themselves a journey through time. “It feels like being in an Asterix and Obelix comic book“, jokes a French couple. An iniquitous man: “Walking on these well-preserved cobblestones, one realizes the greatness of the Roman Empire.“Every day, Sandro Bernadini and his hair tread these cobblestones.”The Appian Way was build 3rd century BC“, explains the guide to a group of tourists.

A 500 km road

For historians, it would be the first highway in history. Wider than the roads of the time, it was the first to allow two tanks to pass each other. The first also to extend so far from Rome. “This road made it possible to connect very distant cities. […] It was very important for the Romans from a military and strategic point of view“, theorizes Sandro Bernadini. The first cobblestones were laid in 312 BC, but it would take more than a century before the road reached Brindisi, 500 kilometers away. Used for trade, the Appian Way quickly became a sacred way, dedicated to the cult of the dead.