All the monuments and archaeological sites on the Appia Antica, Rome's celebrated Queen of Roads, will be thrown open to the public free of charge on the up-and-coming Appia Day, proclaimed for Sunday, the 8th May 2016.
The event is being held to complete the pedestrianization of the Old Appian Way, which will be linked to Rome's ambitious GRAB – Grande Raccordo Annulare delle Bici (Great Bicycle Ring Road) project, involving over 44 kms of cycling track within the city, launched last spring. Planners say that over 80% of the circuit is already completed, with much of the route going through public parks, green areas and along river banks, as well as touching on many of Rome's major sights, like the Colosseum, the Maximum Circus,
St. Peter's, Trastevere and contemporary monuments such as the Auditorium by Renzo Piano and the MAXXI Museum by Zaha Kadid.
The Appia Day is dedicated to the late Antonio Cederna, Italian politician, writer and environmentalist, whose dream was to create a single archaeological park, stretching from the Roman Forum to the Alban hills, incorporating ancient Rome's most celebrated monuments, as well as the surrounding countryside with the remains of the Roman aqueducts and, of course, the Old Appian Way. .
Info: Legambiente Tel. 06.86268399- www.appiaday.it - www.velolove.it/grab/
