an Italian government project is under way to transform the Appian Way (Via Appia) into a pilgrimage route from buzzing Rome to nautical Brindisi,

in 2015, Italian writer Paolo Rumiz decided to walk the Appia for La Repubblica newspaper. 

The one problem: There was no modern map of the route.

He contacted a prominent hiker who has spent nearly four decades traversing Italy. For two months,  Riccardo Carnovalini overlaid military maps, ancient shepherd paths, and satellite imagery to plot the Appia’s course.

Ancient Romans following the Appia encountered a station to swap out their horses every 10 miles, and a guesthouse every 20 miles.

Rumiz’s journey drew the attention of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, and in 2015 the Italian government announced a plan to resurrect the route. Centuries of lawless development had left archaeological treasures in private hands, and ancient villas recklessly remodeled. Preservation has begun, but without visitors, the Appia could be forgotten again. 

Taranto, a port city roughly 40 miles from the Appia’s end. This is the only city founded by the Spartans outside Greece, and a row of Greek columns still stands near the water.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/reviving-europes-first-superhighway