Appian Way bids for UNESCO status

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 10 - The ancient Roman Appian Way linking Rome to Brindisi in Puglia on Tuesday unveiled a bid for become part of the UNESCO cultural heritage list.
    The protocol of understanding for the bid was signed by representatives of four regions - Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Puglia - 12 provinces and metropolitan cities, 73 other towns, 15 parks, the Pontifical Commission of Holy Archaeology and 25 Italian and foreign universities.
    The ceremony for the bid by 'Via Appia, Regina Viarium' (The Appian Way, Queen of Roads) took place at Diocletian's Baths in Rome.
    For the first time, a UNESCO bid is being promoted directly by the Italian culture ministry.
    The Appian Way, an excellent prototype of the Roamn road system, "was much more than just a military or commercial road," said Culture Undersecretary Gianmarco Mazzi.
    "The Appian Way was above all a road of culture for the Roman world. And it is precisely in this cultural aspect that we think there is the element that UNESCO bids require". (ANSA).