Europe is home to one of the continent’s first-ever highways, and possibly the world’s oldest road.
This UNESCO world heritage site is one of the straightest roads built by hand – in classic Roman style. It boasts 300 miles of gorgeous views, and inspired the famous phrase “All roads lead to Rome”.
Travel expert Rick Steves describes it as an “engineering wonder […] ignoring natural contours and running in a straight line for much of the way.”
“As you stroll or bike along the road, you’ll see tombs of ancient big shots that line the way like billboards.”
The road is studded with historical landmarks, including catacombs, museums, and monuments like the collosal Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, ancient Roman ruins built on volcanic rocks that offer a striking look at the lives of Rome‘s nobility.
The Appian Way, or Via Appia in Latin and Italian, is named after Appius Claudius Caecus, a Roman statesman who ordered its construction in 312 BCE.
The road was the first of the Roman Republic’s 29 highways, and was designed initially to ferry troops around Italy. This came in handy during the Samnite wars, a bloody conflict where the Romans battled with the Samnites, a mountain people living South of Rome, for control of central Italy.
Stretching to Brindisi, in Puglia on Italy’s East Coast, the road offers stunning views of Italian countryside. Its first ten miles are part of National Park Parco dell’Appia Antica, a 4580 hectare park full of history and rolling greenery. The park lies just out of Rome’s outskirsts, and is accessible via the capital’s public transport system.
Via Appia has witnessed centuries of rich history, and is studded by Roman villas. Spartacus was crucified on the Appian Way in 71 BC.
Parts of the road are still open to cars, and, according to Lonely Planet, it is a great spot for peaceful cycling.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
