“The return of the Mediterranean’s greatest diagonal, a million steps from Rome to Brindisi that people, after decades of oblivion, will be able to walk again. We’ll give back to the community a forgotten treasure. A monument, a myth, a line that doesn’t finish, but leads to the Silk Road. It’s a project of European interest, involving four regions and all the Italians of a little known, but truly authentic, part of the country. It was the dream of a blind man, Appius Claudius: after twenty-three centuries, it’ll be a reality, a road, a path again.”
Enchanting words taken from the short documentary, directed by Alessandro Scillitani, to present,, today, in the Sala della Crociera at MiBACT (Italian Ministry for cultural heritage and activities and for tourism), the project strongly supported by the Minister Dario Franceschini with € 20million coming from the 2016 Plan for Culture and Tourism. The idea, inspired by the experience of writer and journalist Paolo Rumiz and his travel companions, who walked the entire Appian Way path, steps into a new project phase, assigning the contract of the executive project to the group winner of the tender published on 5th of august 2019.
There are many strengths to the Project, from the essence of the path that makes the Appian Way the first lay national cultural “cammino” along 600 km (about 370 miles) and 29 legs.
The seal is ready, designed by Italian master calligrapher Pietro Porro, consists in a monogram shaped as a double “A” suggesting the perspective lines of the road converging to the horizon. The monogram is also a wooden stamp to mark bread, traditional food in the Italian Culture and particularly in the Regions crossed by the Appian Way.
“Our journey changed reality making articles, documentaries, books blossoming around the Via Appia and releasing a powerful civic energy” — Paolo Rumiz said during the project’s presentation, stating also that Appia works as a social glue for the various territories and people involved, and that will help “making this extraordinary road, made of history, civilization, culture and archaeology, alive again.”
The Regina Viarum (Queen of Roads)- for Minister Dario Franceschini- unites territories rich in an extraordinary cultural, archaeological and landscape heritage and has the characteristics to become one of the greatest European paths. It is our precise duty to invest in this project, which has the merit of focusing on culture to promote and support the economic and social development of the South”
FUNDS
20 M€ from “Piano stralcio Cultura e Turismo” – Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC) 2014-2020 – Delibera CIPE 3, 01 May 2016 (devided between MiBACT and Regions as per the Masterplan), broken down as follow:
- 1,1 M€ for Planning and Survey activities along the entire walking path;
- 6,8 M€ for Research activities about the walking path through archaeological surveys, and for Preservation activities along the Appian Way (conducted by 9 MiBACT local Superintendencies and 1 MiBACT Archaeological Park);
- 8,5 M€ for Securing activities to make the path walkable;
- 2,1 M€ for Promotion activities in the 4 Regions also through temporary exhibitions on the ancient Road as well as the publication of all data in a Monograph;
- 1 M€ for IT tools (HUB, topographic flight, etc.);
- 500.000 € for technical and administrative assistance for the project.
PROGET IN FIGURES
- 609 km (about 380 miles) of paths (of which 150 km in Lazio; 190 km in Campania; 83 km in Basilicata, 186 km in Puglia); • 29 stages, around 20 km each (about 12,5 miles) • 4 Regions, 11 Provinces (Avellino, Bari, Benevento, Brindisi, Caserta, Foggia, Latina, Matera, Potenza, Roma e Taranto) and 87 Communes involved.
