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History of Mérida

Mérida, founded in the first century BCE, with the name of Emerita Augusta, was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. Emperor Augustus founded it to serve as a retreat for veteran soldiers. It was apparently one of the most important cities in Roman Hispania. 

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Mérida was taken over by the Visigoths and remained an important city under their rule until it was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate. It remained under Muslim rule until it was taken by Alfonso IX of León in 1230. 

The name Mérida can be traced from Emerita under the Romans to Māridah under the Muslims to the modern Mérida.

Teatro & Anfiteatro 

The most visually impressive of all sites in Mérida. At this one site you have both the theatre and amphitheatre – people living in Roman Mérida could decide whether to go to watch a dramatic performance or something altogether more grizzly next door.

The theatre was constructed thanks to Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus. I learned here that the Romans weren’t super fond of theatre but still, the theatre had space for 6,000 spectators (of course, split by rank with women all the way at the back in the cheap seats, grrrrr ancient-Rome). We sat for a good while just basking in the beauty of the theatre – well, I did. The kids ran around the dark tunnels while I contemplated life and all the other things ancient history brings up). There is actually a classical theatre festival held here every year. I assume that women aren’t consigned to the shitty seats for this!

The Anfiteatro (Roman amphitheatre), where people gathered to watch gladiatorial contests that included wild animals fighting, was constructed around 8 BCE and could hold around 15 – 16 000 people (yup, well played Rome, more space for blood and guts than culture).

Alcazaba 

The Alcazaba is a large Islamic fort in the centre of the city. It isn’t often you can visit an Arab citadel that also has Visigoth and Roman ruins to be seen within – what am I saying? Of course it’s fairly normal in southern Spain that you can see all three side by side. Still, it’s kinda cool.

The fortress is younger than other sites in Mérida, having been built in 835 CE but it’s still the oldest Muslim fortress on the Iberian Peninsula. It was designed with three specific roles in mind: to serve as headquarters for the Umayyad administrators, as a residence for the local governor and to restrict/control access to the city via the Roman bridge and therefore provide safety to the Muslim population. 

Inside the Alcazaba you’ll find the remains of a Roman road, a Roman house and a fascinating underground cistern that was built reusing both Roman and Visigoth architectural pieces. There are some good signs with explanations of everything in the site.

 

Casa del Mitreo / Mithraeum and Columbarios 

This site is apparently the biggest known Roman house in Europe. It was built sometime around the end of the first century of the common era  just outside the Roman city walls. The highlight here is the first mosaic you come to, it is a representation of the cosmos revolving around the figure of Aeternitas (Eternity). 

If you’re a fan of Roman ruins then you can’t miss Baelo Claudia, located on the beach near Tarifa in Andalucia or Conímbriga outside Porto, Portugal. They’re two of the best preserved Roman towns on the whole Iberian Peninsula. And just outside Sevilla is Italica, the first Roman city built in Spain.

Casa del Anfiteatro

Next to the theatre and amphitheatre site is Casa Anfiteatro – we almost missed out on this treat of a Roman villa but thankfully decided to stick our heads in. The intricate mosaics here are great and it’s set up so visitors walk just above them, even with glass floors at one section. A touch screen full of explanations was joyfully jabbed at by the kids. 

Circo (Roman Circus)

This site will have held up to 30,000 spectators (that’s half the current population of the city, by the way!). 

​Something of a walk from the other ruins in Mérida is the Roman circus (be sure to prepare any kids / clown fans lest they wind up disappointed that this isn’t a modern circus). What fascinated us the most here is that it hasn’t been turned into a giant park as the setting is extremely urban and it seems a waste to have this ticketed and behind a fence. However, since it is apparently one of the best preserved circuses of the entire Roman empire, we can kind of see why it is. 

There is a small museum here too.

Templo de Diana

This Imperial Cult Temple is located right in the middle of modern Mérida. We stopped by at around 10 pm on Saturday night when it was nicely lit up but obviously closed. We returned on Sunday morning and discovered a small museum inside the house that’s within this Roman temple. A short video shown in the museum came as a relief to the kids who were very over Roman ruins by this point. 

We did not see either the Cripta de la Basilica or the Zona Arqueologica Moreria due to lack of time. Both cost 6 Euros if visited as stand alone monuments but are included in the combined ticket. 

What’s free to do in Mérida?

National Museum of Roman Art

By the amphitheatre complex is a really fabulous museum housing enormous mosaics, artefacts a superb three-floor collection of statues. We particularly enjoyed the exhibition about the discovery of the Roman theatre under a chickpea field in the early twentieth century!

Puente Romano (Roman Bridge) 

​The Roman bridge over the River Guadiana is fun to walk over. If we’d had more time we’d have taken the exit in the middle down onto the island and had an explore down there. As it was, we were walking over the bridge to get to Carrefour to buy jackets for the kids because it was colder than we’d expected in early November. 

The bridge is apparently one of the longest ever built by the Romans. It’s almost 800m long.

Acueducto de los Milagros

This aqueduct forms the shape of the sign for the modern city of Mérida and is really very impressive, standing at 27m tall. Apparently there is over 800m of it too. It’s located in the park over the river and is a popular place for locals and tourists to congregate. We were there at a chilly but magnificent dusk.

It was part of a hydraulic system bringing water to the city from the Proserpina Dam (also known as the Albuera Reservoir). 

Of course, the biggest aqueduct in Spain is in Segovia, which is a four-hour drive from Mérida. 

Alcalá de Guadaíra, some twenty minutes outside of Seville performed this duty for Seville under the Romans: water was carried from their natural springs via aqueduct into the city. 

Plaza de España

This lovely plaza is the centre of Mérida and it’s definitely somewhere to come for a drink or evening meal if you enjoy being a part of local life.