Old Roads in Chianti

Etruscan, Roman, or just very old?

Everyone knows what happens to a dirt road or trail when it rains. If it's on level ground it will become a mud hole and if it's on a slope the surface will wash away. That's why good roads have a hard surface. Before asphalt and concrete, good roads were built with brick or natural stone. Roads made with the right kind of rock are bumpy but extremely durable.

Narrow roads made with hand-laid stone are very good walking trails.

In order to minimize the bumpiness, the only way to make a road like this is to place every stone by hand, like a stone wall. Italians are still quite good with stone as is obvious to anyone who has been here.

Greve in Chianti, Etruscan and Roman
by Carlo Baldini

My wife and I have seen several "roads" like the one above in the Italian countryside. The ones that look well-made and possibly ancient aren't even as wide as a full-sized vehicle. We wondered how old they might be so I inquired while I was in the town of Greve in Chianti doing research for a guidebook. At the Greve library I found a book about the archaeology of the Greve area by Carlo Baldini, a local historian. It shows that there are many remnants of stone roads of Roman and pre-Roman (Etruscan) age in the hills around Greve. The short section of stone road in the photo above is a few kilometres from Greve but I didn't find any reference to it. 

I also asked a man at the Greve tourist information office about Roman roads in the area and he said there are many. He said "follow me" and took me a few doors away to a wine bar on the main piazza. He said the floor of this "enoteca" is the remains of a Roman road!

Imagine how much wine has travelled over these stones