Ancient Roman Highway, Appian Way, Added To UNESCO World Heritage List

The Appian Way, the ancient Romans’ first highway and a popular tourist attraction in modern Rome, has been added to the United Nations’ cultural heritage list. Known as the Regina Viarum, or Queen of Roads, the Appian Way connected the capital of the early Roman state to the southeastern town of Brindisi.

This recognition marks the 60th Italian site to be acknowledged by UNESCO. The decision was announced on Saturday via the social platform X.

The road is named after Appius Claudius Caecus, the Roman censor who initiated and completed the first section as a military road to the south in 312 BC.

Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano celebrated the move, stating it acknowledged the “universal value of an extraordinary work of engineering that has been essential for centuries for commercial, social, and cultural exchanges with the Mediterranean and the East.”