Florence Was The First City In Europe To Pave Its Streets

One of the interesting facts about Florence is it became the first city in Europe to pave all of its streets in 1339. Obviously, the Roman Empire had a reputation for having excellent roads long before that. In 312 BCE, the Romans began constructing roads throughout Italy. Over the following seven centuries, they constructed more than 50,000 miles of roads throughout Europe. The roadways, which were paved with cement blocks and served as a rapid means of transportation for armies, supplies, and intelligence throughout the empire, were abandoned when the empire started to fall and eventually began to deteriorate.

While road paving gradually lost popularity in Europe, it remained an idea in Italy. Due to gifts from its affluent merchants and banks, Florence was able to pave all of its city streets in 1339 AD.