During its 46th session of the Unesco World Heritage Committee, taking place in New Delhi, the body has decided to add Italy’s Via Appia Regina Viarum to the Unesco World Heritage List. The addition puts the number of Unesco World Heritage sites in Italy on an even 60, confirming its position as the country with the most classified sites.
“UNESCO has grasped the exceptional universal value of an extraordinary engineering work that over the centuries has been essential for trade, social and cultural exchanges with the Mediterranean and the East”, said Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.
🔴 BREAKING!
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) July 27, 2024
New inscription on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List: Via Appia. Regina Viarum, #Italy 🇮🇹.
➡️https://t.co/FfOspAHOlX #46WHC pic.twitter.com/t1TFeAWALl
Via Appia, measuring 650 kilometres in length, was a road running through central and southern Italy. It is the first Roman road to have been built using innovative techniques at the time and was inaugurated in 312 BC.by the censor Appius Claudius Blind. Initially, it connected Rome to Capua but extensions to Benevento, Venosa, Taranto and Brindisiwere were later added. Even though the road was meant as a military tool, it soon became used for commercial and cultural needs and proved of utmost importance for these transmissions. Today, its first 17 km of cobblestone are preserved within the Appia Antica archaeological park in the south of Rome.cobblestones
“The Via Appia later enabled the cities it connected to grow and new settlements emerged, facilitating agricultural production and trade. This property, composed of 22 component parts, is a fully developed ensemble of engineering works, illustrating the advanced technical skill of Roman engineers in the construction of roads, civil engineering projects, infrastructure and sweeping land reclamation works, as well as a vast series of monumental structures including, for example, triumphal arches, baths, amphitheatres and basilicas, aqueducts, canals, bridges, and public fountains”, Unesco explains.
In total, 13 sites were added to the Unesco World Heritage List, chosen from 27 applicants:
- Sado Island Gold Mines, Japan
- Beijing Central Axis, China
- Phu Phrabat, Thailand
- Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake, Russian Federation
- The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi, Kenya
- Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites, South Africa
- The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex, Malaysia
- Schwerin Residence Ensemble, Germany
- Via Appia. Regina Viarum, Italy
- The Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area, SaudiArabia
- Brâncusi Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu, Romania
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia, Romania
- Hegmataneh, Islamic Republic of Iran