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How old are Roman cobblestone streets?

Cobblestones as a road surface in Rome can be dated back to the 1700s. In the mid-1700s, Pope Clement VIII Corsini started having the streets of Rome be paved with cobblestones, or as they are known locally, “sampietrini” which means “little stones of St. Peters” (Rome, 2014).



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The stones were produced from deposits of volcanic rock that once spewed from the hills around Rome. Though sampietrini that are removed are recycled, the city resorted to importing machine-made cobblestones from China amid efforts to spruce up Rome for jubilee celebrations in 2000.

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Appian Way, Latin Via Appia, the first and most famous of the ancient Roman roads, running from Rome to Campania and southern Italy. The Appian Way was begun in 312 bce by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus.

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The oldest building standing in Rome is the temple of Hercules Victor and dates back to the second century BC and today represents the oldest building in Rome still standing. This temple is sometimes still referred to as the Temple of Vesta and the error is due to its circular shape which makes it similar […]

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Actually, though, it was the Romans who first invented cobblestone streets. The first recorded cobblestone roads appeared in Rome's unparalleled network of roads in the third century. The term cobblestone refers to the smooth, round shape of the stones that workers picked up in rivers and streams.

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The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Appia (Appian Way), begun by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 bce, originally ran southeast from Rome 162 miles (261 km) to Tarentum (now Taranto) and was later extended to the Adriatic coast at Brundisium (now Brindisi).

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The first of the great Roman roads, the Via Appia (Appian Way), begun by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus in 312 bce, originally ran southeast from Rome 162 miles (261 km) to Tarentum (now Taranto) and was later extended to the Adriatic coast at Brundisium (now Brindisi).

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