Monuments To Visit On The Appian Way, Proposed To UNESCO As A World Heritage Site

The Appian Way

The Via Appia was a Roman road that connected Rome to Brundisium (Brindisi), one of the most important ports in ancient Italy, from which the trade routes to Greece and the East originated. Considered by the Romans to be the regina viarum (queen of roads), it is universally regarded, in view of the time in which it was built (late 4th century B.C.-3rd century B.C.), as one of the greatest civil engineering works of the ancient world because of the enormous economic, military and cultural impact it had on Roman society. Large sections of the road, particularly in the suburbs of the city of Rome, are still preserved and passable today as well as a destination for archaeological tourism. Its nomination as a World Heritage Site was made official in Brindisi at an event attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Sant'Agata Foundation.

Baths of Caracalla

The original route of the Appia Antica, starting from Porta Capena near the Baths of Caracalla, connected Urbe to Capua (Santa Maria Capua Vetere) via Aricia (Ariccia), Forum Appii, Anxur (Terracina) near the Ufente River, Fundi, Itri, Formiae (Formia), Minturnae (Minturno), and Sinuessa (Mondragone). The Baths of Caracalla or Antoninian Baths constitute one of the grandest examples of imperial baths in Rome, still preserved for much of their structure and free of modern buildings. They were built by the emperor on the Small Aventine between 212 and 216 CE (as shown by the brick stamps) in an area adjacent to the initial stretch of the Appian Way, about 400 m outside the ancient Porta Capena gate and just south of the revered Camene forest. These public baths were the most impressive ever built in the Roman Empire until the inauguration of the Baths of Diocletian and served primarily the residents of the Augustan I, II and XII regions (the entire area between the Caelian, Aventine and Circus Maximus). In 2016 the museum circuit of the Baths of Caracalla, the Tomb of Cecilia Metella and the Villa of the Quintili was the 26th most visited Italian state site.

Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman circus located in Rome. Situated in the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine, it is remembered as the site of games from the very beginning of the city's history: the mythical episode of the Rape of the Sabine Women is said to have taken place in the valley, on the occasion of the games called by Romulus in honor of the god Consus. Certainly the wide flat space and its proximity to the landing of the Tiber, where from the earliest antiquity trade took place, meant that the place constituted from the foundation of the city the elective space in which to conduct market activities and trade with other populations, and - consequently - also the related ritual activities (think of the Ara massima di Ercole) and socializing, such as games and competitions.

The Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella

The mausoleum of Cecilia Metella is a grand Roman funerary monument located near the Appian Way. It forms with the Castrum Caetani an archaeological continuum, rising in Rome, just before the 3rd mile of the Via Appia Antica, immediately after the complex consisting of the circus, the villa, and the tomb of Emperor Maxentius' son Valerius Romulus. In 2018, the museum circuit of Cecilia Metella's tomb and the Quintili villa recorded 44,136 visitors and a total gross income of 93,687 euros.

Tomb of Romulus

The dynastic mausoleum, circular in shape, is known as the "Tomb of Romulus" after the name of the emperor's son who died tragically in 309 A.D. "Enclosed in a four-sided portico originally covered by cross vaults," PArCo archaeologists describe, "the tomb is circular in plan and was preceded by a monumental entrance.