Mérida, Spain

Etymology

The place name of Mérida derives from the Latin Emerita, with a meaning of retired or veteran. It is part of the name that the city received after its foundation by the emperor Augustus in 25 BC, Augusta Emerita, colony in which veteran soldiers or emeritus settled.

History

Prehistory

Mérida has been populated since prehistoric times, as demonstrated by a prestigious hoard of gold jewellery excavated from a girl's grave in 1870. Consisting of two penannular bracelets, an armlet, and a chain of six spiral wire rings, the hoard is now preserved at the British Museum.

Antiquity

The town was founded in 25 BC under the name Emerita Augusta (meaning "veterans of Augustus"), by order of Emperor Augustus, to settle discharged soldiers of the V Alaudae and X Gemina. Established to guard a strategic pass and the Guadiana river bridge, it quickly became one of the most important cities in Roman Hispania. It was the capital of the Lusitania province and later, in the 4th century, served as the capital of the Diocese of Hispania.

Emerita Augusta was also a terminus of the Vía de la Plata (Silver Way), a key Roman route connecting the gold mines near Asturica Augusta with the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Mérida preserves more major Roman monuments than any other city in Spain, including a triumphal arch and the Roman theatre.

Jewish historical tradition, as recorded in Abraham ibn Daud's Sefer ha-Qabbala (a 12th-century source) holds that a group of noble Jewish exiles arrived in Mérida following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. One of these exiles, Baruch, a silk craftsman, is described as the progenitor of the influential Albalia family of medieval Córdoba.

In 409, during the invasion of Iberia, the city became the capital of the short-lived Kingdom of the Alans under King Attaces. His death in 418 in battle against the Visigoths led to the city's absorption into the neighboring Vandal kingdom. In 469, it was taken by the Visigoths and remained an important city in the Visigothic Kingdom.

Middle Ages

In 713, Mérida was Conquest of Mérida (712–713) by the Umayyad Caliphate under Musa ibn Nusayr and became the capital of the Cora of Mérida. The Arabs reused and expanded many Roman buildings, notably the Alcazaba fortress. In the 9th century, the Mozarabs of Mérida frequently rebelled against the Caliphate, contributing to the city’s gradual decline. During the Fitna of al-Andalus, Mérida became part of the Taifa of Badajoz.

In the early 13th century, under Almohad control, Mérida supported the rival leader Ibn Hud. In 1230, it was reconquered by Alfonso IX of León and returned to Christian rule. The city then became the seat of the priory of San Marcos de León of the Order of Santiago. A period of recovery began in the 15th century following the unification of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, aided by Alonso de Cárdenas, Grand Master of the Order.

Modern times

In 1720, Mérida became the capital of the Intendencia of Mérida. The city is also located along the Vía de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago, offering an alternative to the more widely known French Way.

During the Napoleonic Wars, many of Mérida’s historic monuments were damaged or destroyed. In the aftermath, the city developed as a railway hub and underwent significant industrialization.

On 10 August 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Mérida was captured by Nationalist forces in the Battle of Mérida. The Nationalists carried out a harsh repression in the conquered territory.

In modern times, Mérida became the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura in 1983. It also serves as the ecclesiastical seat of the Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz. The city's archaeological site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

The current mayor (since 2015) is Antonio Rodríguez Osuna of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.

Climate

Mérida has a Mediterranean climate with Atlantic influences (Köppen: Csa; Trewartha: Csak), due to the proximity of the Portuguese coast. The winters are mild, with minimum temperature rarely below 0 °C, and summers are hot with maximum temperatures occasionally exceeding 40 °C.

Precipitation is normally between 300 and annually. The months with most rainfall are November and December. Summers are dry, and in Mérida, as in the rest of southern Spain, cycles of drought are common, ranging in duration from 2 to 5 years.

In autumn the climate is more changeable than in the rest of the year. Storms occur with some frequency, but the weather is often dry.

Both humidity and winds are low. However, there is frequent fog, especially in the central months of autumn and winter.{{Weather box WMO ID: 08331; Climate ID: 4410X; coordinates ; elevation: 228 m; (1991–2020), extremes (1989–present){{cite web |access-date = 13 November 2024 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241113115453/https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/4a2f221b |archive-date = 2024-11-13}} |Jan record high C = 23.4 |Feb record high C = 25.3 |Mar record high C = 30.6 |Apr record high C = 36.9 |May record high C = 39.4 |Jun record high C = 44.0 |Jul record high C = 44.8 |Aug record high C = 46.4 |Sep record high C = 44.7 |Oct record high C = 36.6 |Nov record high C = 27.3 |Dec record high C = 22.6 |year record high C = 46.4 |Jan record low C = -10.0 |Feb record low C = -6.9 |Mar record low C = -4.9 |Apr record low C = 1.0 |May record low C = 2.3 |Jun record low C = 8.0 |Jul record low C = 11.0 |Aug record low C = 10.2 |Sep record low C = 8.8 |Oct record low C = 2.7 |Nov record low C = -1.7 |Dec record low C = -4.7 |year record low C = -10.0 |access-date = 22 November 2024 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241122121446/https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/b84e5a85 |archive-date = 2024-11-22}}{{cite web |access-date = 22 November 2024 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241122121331/https://opendata.aemet.es/opendata/sh/4f45b2e5 |archive-date = 2024-11-22}}{{cite web |access-date = 2024-05-14}}

Annual Events

Emerita Lvdica

Each year the city holds a week-long event to celebrate the Roman history of the area. The "games" (lvdica) include scheduled events throughout the city during the day and into Mérida's comfortable evenings. They include parades, brightly-costumed attendees, fiercely-armored gladiators, mock battles in the ancient amphitheater, plus some simulation of the daily life in that period. The schedule is roughly the last week of May until the first weekend in June and should be checked in advance by visiting the city's schedule of events page.

Culture

Main sights

Main article: Emerita Augusta

Among the remaining Roman monuments are:

The Puente Romano, a bridge over the Guadiana River that is still used by pedestrians, and the longest of all existing Roman bridges. Annexed is a fortification (the Alcazaba), built by the Muslim emir Abd ar-Rahman II in 835 on the Roman walls and Roman-Visigothic edifices in the area. The court houses Roman mosaics, while underground is a Visigothic cistern.

• remains of the Forum, including the Temple of Diana, and of the Roman Provincial Forum, including the so-called Arch of Trajan
• remains of the Circus Maximus (1st century BC), one of the best preserved Roman circus buildings

• Acueducto de los Milagros (a Roman aqueduct)
• patrician villa called the Villa Mitreo, with precious mosaic pavements
• Proserpina Dam and Cornalvo Dam, two Roman reservoirs still in use
• the Amphitheatre, and the Roman theatre, where a summer festival of Classical theatre is presented, usually with versions of Greco-Roman classics or modern plays set in ancient times.
• Morerías archaeological site
• National Museum of Roman Art designed by Rafael Moneo
• Church of Santa Eulalia, dating to the 4th century but rebuilt in the 13th century. Its portico reuses parts of an ancient temple of Mars.

Other sights include:

• Cathedral of Saint Mary Major (13th-14th centuries)
• Renaissance Ayuntamiento (Town Hall)
• Church of Santa Clara (17th century)
• Gothic church of Nuestra Señora de la Antigua (15th-16th centuries)
• Baroque church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen (18th century)

Several notable buildings were built more recently, including the Escuela de la Administración Pública (Public Administration College), the Consejerías y Asamblea de Junta de Extremadura (councils and parliament of Extremadura), the Agencía de la Vivienda de Extremadura (Housing Agency of Extremadura), the Biblioteca del Estado (State Library), the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones (auditorium), the Factoría de Ocio y Creación Joven (cultural and leisure center for youth), the Complejo Cultural Hernán Cortés (cultural centre), the Ciudad Deportiva (sports city), the Universidad de Mérida (Mérida University), the Confederación Hidrografica del Guadiana (Guadiana Hydrographic Confederation designed by Rafael Moneo), the Lusitania Bridge over the Guadiana River designed by Santiago Calatrava), the Palacio de Justicia (Justice Hall), etc.

Sport

AD Mérida is the principal football team of the city, founded in 2013 as a successor to Mérida UD, which itself was a successor to CP Mérida. The last of these teams played two seasons in Spain's top division, La Liga, in the late 1990s.

All three clubs played at the city's 14,600-capacity Estadio Romano. On 9 September 2009, it hosted the Spanish national team as they defeated Estonia 3–0 to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which they went on to win. Mayor of Mérida Ángel Calle said, "We want to use the Estonia match to promote Mérida and Extremadura, we will welcome the players as if they were 21st-century gladiators."

Transport

The nearest airport to the city is Badajoz Airport, located 50 km west of Merida.

International relations

Mérida is twinned with:

• Mérida, Mexico
• Mérida, Venezuela

Gallery

File:Mérida - Letras 1.jpg|Mérida Letter Art File:Teatro Romano. Mérida (España).JPG|Roman theatre panorama File:Mérida (1984) 05.jpg|Roman theatre closer view File:J29 320 Amphitheater Mérida, Hauptzugang.jpg|Roman Amphitheatre entrance arch File:J29 319 Amphitheater Mérida, Zugang.jpg|Seating and entrances to Roman Amphitheatre File:J29 321 Mérida, römisches Theater.jpg|Roman Amphitheatre from different angle File:Ceres Teatro Romano Mérida - panoramio.jpg|Statue of Ceres in Roman Amphitheatre File:Ceres of Mérida (cropped).jpg|Closeup of the statue of Ceres in the Roman Amphitheatre File:Mérida - Teatro - 02.jpg|Statues lining the Roman Theatre File:Mérida - Anfiteatro - 02 - Panorámica.jpg|Panorama of the Roman Amphitheatre File:Mérida (1984) 14.jpg|Details of mosaic tile pattern in the Roman Theatre File:Teatro de Mérida, España, 2017 10.jpg|Detail of Roman Columns from the Roman Theatre File:Mérida 2015 10 17 1588 (24164079070).jpg|Cornerstone dedicating the Roman Amphitheatre in 8 BC for use in gladiatorial contests and staged beast-hunts File:Mérida - Templo de Diana - 02 edited.jpg|Temple of Diana File:Templo de Diana (Mérida).jpg|Temple of Diana File:J29 269 Bf Mérida, Acueducto de los Milagros.jpg|Roman Aqueduct File:Puente Romano de Mérida, España.jpg|Roman Bridge File:Puente romano de Mérida.jpg|Roman Bridge in Merida File:Spain-Merida-Spain-Merida-Puente Romano-P1170557 (25592981670).jpg|Roman Bridge File:J29 252 Mérida, Ermita de la Antigua.jpg|Ancient Hermitage File:Spain-Merida-Spain-Merida-Puente Romano-P1250189 (25893548645).jpg|Roman Bridge File:Portada tardorrománica de Santa Eulalia, Mérida (15790991169).jpg|Late Romanesque Portal to Santa Eulalia Church File:Mérida - Arco de Trajano 3.jpg|Trajan's Arch File:Mérida - Monumento a Octavio Augusto 03.jpg|Monument to Octavian Augustus, for whom Augusta Emerita was named File:Mérida - Basílica romano cristiana - DSC 2112 W.jpg|Roman Christian Basilica File:Mérida. The Capitoline She-Wolf. Badajoz. Extremadura. Spain (4921150035).jpg|Copy of the Roman Capitoline She-Wolf File:Mérida (1984) 03.jpg|Entrances to the Arena File:Mérida - Monumento a Marco Agrippa 3.jpg|Monument to Marcus Agrippa File:Mérida - Plaza de España - 02.jpg|Spain Square, Mérida File:Mérida - Palacio de la China 02.jpg|Chinese Palace File:MNAR (Mérida) Exterior 01.jpg|Exterior of Merida Museum File:Cantimplora, Mérida (16811193209).jpg|Roman ceramic canteen File:Convento de Jesús Nazareno, Mérida. Patio.jpg|Patio of the Jesus of Nazareth Convent File:Mérida - Estatua ecuestre de Augusto 2.jpg|Equestrian Statue of Augustus Caesar File:Mérida - Estatua ecuestre de Augusto 4.jpg|Closeup of Equestrian Statue of Augustus Caesar File:Mérida - Alcazaba - 01.JPG|Alcazaba (Cistern) Mérida File:Mérida - Alcazaba - 06 - Panorama.jpg|Panorama of Merida's Alcazaba File:Mérida - Plaza de la Constitución 1.jpg|Plaza de la Constitución File:Mérida - Palacio de Congresos 3.jpg|Mérida's Congress Palace File:Parador de Mérida 4.jpg|Parador de Mérida File:Hotel Mérida Palace.jpg|Hotel Mérida Palace File:Dinosaurio Mérida Museo.jpg|Dinosaur Museum

Notes

Sources

• {{citation

References

1. Félix Gómez, Miguel. (1 March 2024). "¿Qué supuso para Mérida su posición estratégica para la guerra?".
2. [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?place=35933&plaA=35933-3-1 British Museum Collection]
3. Prats, Arturo. "Merida". Brill.
4. Beevor, Antony. (2006). ''The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939.'' Penguin Books. London. p. 120
5. Meteorología, Agencia Estatal de. "Valores climatológicos normales - Agencia Estatal de Meteorología - AEMET. Gobierno de España".
6. "Emerita Lvdica » Turismo Mérida".
7. {{harvnb. O'Connor. 1993
8. Rogers, Iain. (10 September 2009). "Spain's '21st century gladiators' do Merida proud". [[Reuters]].