Greenway history and typology

The history of greenways

Ceremonial avenues In the ancient world, avenues were made for religious processions, military parades, coronations and burials. They were found in Babylon and Egypt (c2000 BC). The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut , for example, had a ceremonial avenue which linked it to Thebes . Avenues were used in Imperial Rome and again in renaissance towns and gardens. In hunting parks, they helped horsemen to find and chase the stag. Avenues became a distinguishing feature of Baroque cities all over Europe , with the boulevards of Paris as the supreme example. Avenues were used as carriage routes in towns and for dramatic effect in Baroque gardens. All the old examples were straight lines. They count as greenways because they were "green" in the environmental sense and they were "ways" in a transportation sense.