I left Toledo in the morning on my way to Mérida, the first large city and the most monumental of the trip along with Cáceres and perhaps one of the cities with the most history in Spain, whose streets hide great treasures from Roman times beneath their floors. or later. This city was chosen by the Roman elites to retire and spend their last years of life. Mérida comes from emerita and means retired.

Mérida is famous for its roman theater and amphitheatres as well as its circus, which are shown in the figure on the right, but there are many other attractions to this city. It was founded in the year 25 BC and was the most important Roman city outside of Italy. I visited it when I was little and I just remember these places. On this visit I did not spend a single euro on monuments and the whole day was very different from the visit as a child in which I would stop for no more than four hours and see four different places.

Park your car not far from the Roman theater and without paying even 1 euro since you leave it in a residential area very close to a supermarket. I would start with what is close to the theater, such as the Roman museum where the original figures of both the amphitheater and the theater are. It also keeps many objects found in excavations throughout the autonomous community of Extremadura. Many mosaics of Roman residences are exhibited on the walls of this museum that, in addition to being large, is quite tall, three floors and almost 20 meters high. In the following image I show what a Roman house of the time was like, from the archaeological museum. It is the Roman reference museum of the entire Iberian Peninsula, ahead of the Evora museum in Portugal.

It is also divided into Roman times and has a large collection of coins and vessels from the period.



Below I show the recreation of a Roman house and one of the largest mosaics found in the Merida region.



After concluding my visit to the museum, I would visit the Roman remains close to it, such as the Roman baths and the excavations of the Reyes Huertas archaeological complex, which is a large area in which construction was prohibited due to the large number of objects and remains of roman buildings.



Then I would go to see the obelisk and the Basilica of Santa Eulalia, a basilica that is quite impressive inside but do not go into the crypt, which is paid for and houses one of the oldest images of this saint.
This basilica was the first Christian temple erected in Hispania after the Peace of the Emperor Constantine; this church was therefore built as a martyrdom basilica in memory of Eulalia de Mérida; For this reason, during the dawn of the Middle Ages, it became a place of pilgrimages that came from Western Europe and North Africa. It is a World Heritage Site largely due to the excavations that were carried out in its subsoil and brought to light the first burial mound of Santa Eulalia from the 4th century. The original paintings are in very good condition.

Later, towards the center, I would visit the Roman forum in which the portico is preserved, the temple of Diana whose square has been recently restored, trajan's arch as one of the main Roman remains.
The so-called Temple of Diana is a Roman temple built in the first century AD. C. in the city of Augusta Emerita, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, present-day Mérida (Spain). It was built in the municipal forum of the Roman city following the usual configuration of the temples of classical antiquity and is the only Roman religious building that has survived in Mérida in an acceptable state of conservation. In reality, it was dedicated to the imperial cult, not to the goddess Diana, and it must have been one of the main temples of the city, judging by its dedication and the prominent place it occupied in the urban space. Since 1993 it has been declared a World Heritage Site as part of the Mérida Archaeological Complex.



Visit the alcazaba that was built by Abderramán II in the year 835 AD. C. as a bastion to control the city, which since the year 805 had continuously rebelled against the emiral domain. This makes it the oldest Muslim fortification preserved in the Iberian Peninsula. The fortification consists of a square enclosure 130 meters on each side capable of housing a good number of troops. Inside the enclosure there is a Roman arch that the Arabs would not throw away, some Roman pillars and an Arab cistern found in many fortifications of that time. Nearby is the presidency of the Extremadura junta that can be seen in the image.



Such as religious buildings the co-cathedral of Santa María la Mayor and the church of El Carmen and the cathedral square. The co-cathedral is so important that it was built in the 13th century, after the reconquest, by the oldest Catholic cathedral on the peninsula, the Visigothic Cathedral of Santa María de Jerusalen. There is hardly a pillar left inside that is in one of the chapels.



The Co-Cathedral is located in Plaza de España. There are different palaces and unique buildings such as the China Palace.



Nearby is the Arch of Trajan, one of the most important access gates to the ancient Roman city of Mérida, and in the adjacent square the Mérida parador built on a singular palace.



Then you would visit the convent of Santa Clara where the Visigothic museum is located. This building is classicist Baroque from the 17th century. With the confiscation, other uses would be given to it and it would end up as a museum of everything Visigothic found in the region.



After seeing all the center I would go out towards the outskirts through the park of the river. Firstly, the La Morería archaeological center, which has what is seen in the image plus a small interpretation center.



Then I would go along the river where the iron railway bridge built in the 19th century is located and further on is where one of the hidden wonders of Mérida is located, the aqueduct of Los Milagros. One of the longest preserved aqueducts in Spain and less known since being on the outskirts few know about it. With this I would go to the hotel north of Mérida, which would allow me to see the province of Cáceres better, since this trip except Mérida was focused on the province of Cáceres.

Day 2 Montanchez to Trujillo (CLICK to continue)

October 2, 2021