The center of Rome is paved in beveled black basalt cobbles called sampietrini, meaning "little stones of St. Peter's," indicating they were used at the Piazza San Pietro, but also for all the main streets during the pontificate of Pope Sixtus V (1585 to 1590). The stone is good for carriages, but not for modern high-speed vehicles. The stones are slippery when wet, and prone to potholes. Replacement stones are difficult to produce, and only a very small cadre of people are trained in replacing the old cobblestones.
Photo: Wikipedia. Creative Commons

"Put a tongue in every wound of Caesar, that should move the stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
- Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene ii

Rome has had cobblestoned streets and pathways for some 2,000 years. Today's major thoroughfares in Rome's central, historic district are still cobbled. While the city has been talking about removing cobblestone from streets for years, it appears there's new impetuous to remove them from the Via Nazionale (pictured) as a traffic safety measure. The cobblestones were placed in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Rome's new alderman for public works, Maurizio Pucci, got some international attention in December 2014 when he said the public works council wanted to remove cobblestones on both roads and pedestrian ways, and replace it with smooth asphalt to make the roads safer for drivers and pedestrians, while requiring less maintenance.

Following that announcement, Rome City Councilor Maurizio Pucci suggested that in lieu of paying contractors to remove cobblestones, the contractors could keep the stones, and essentially sell them to the highest bidder.

While not denying that cobblestones will be removed from the Via Nazionale to improve road motoring, Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino denied any "selling off" of the historic cobblestones, indicating they would be reused for nonvehicular areas.

Viviana Di Capua, president of the Association of Historic Centre Inhabitants, noted that while cobblestones are integral to Rome's identity, they haven't been maintained very well.

Rome airport screeners occasionally find cobblestone or pieces of mosaics taken as souvenirs in travel bags.