Via Mala, narrow gorge of the Hinterrhein River, a headstream of the Rhine, c.31/2 mi (6 km) long, Grisons canton, E Switzerland. One of the most wild and picturesque gorges in Switzerland, it is walled by vertical limestone cliffs c.1,600 ft (490 m) high. The Splügen Road (see Splügen) passes above the gorge.

Via Appia: see Appian Way; Roman roads.

Latin Via Appia.

First and most famous of the ancient Roman roads, running from Rome to Campania and southern Italy. Begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, the road originally ran 132 mi (212 km) to ancient Capua; by 244 BC it extended 230 mi (370 km) to the port of Brundisium (Brindisi) in Italy's heel. Built of smoothly fitted blocks of lava on a heavy stone foundation, the road provided a long-lasting surface for transporting merchandise to these seaports (and thence by ship to Greece and the eastern Mediterranean). Remains can be seen today outside Rome.

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