Mérida

Mérida, town, north-central Badajoz provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Extremadura, western Spain. It is located on the north bank of the Guadiana River, about 35 miles (55 km) east of Badajoz, the provincial capital. The town was founded by the Romans in 25 bce as Augusta Emerita. As the capital of Lusitania (a Roman province that encompassed modern Portugal), it became one of the most important towns in Iberia and was large enough to contain a garrison of 90,000 men. It prospered anew in the 7th century under the Visigoths.

Occupied in 713 by the Moors, who enlarged the alcazar, or citadel, originally the chief Roman fort, Mérida was recaptured in 1228 by Alfonso IX of Leon, who granted it to the Knights of Santiago. Chief among the town’s Roman remains is a bridge constructed of granite near the end of the 1st century ce and restored by the Visigoths in 686 and by Philip III in 1610. It comprised 81 arches, 17 of which were destroyed during the siege of Badajoz (1812) by the French, and measured 2,575 feet (785 metres) in length. There are a few remnants of Roman temples and of the colossal wall that encircled the town, as well as a Roman triumphal arch, commonly called the Arco de Trajano (Santiago), and a second Roman bridge. From the Pantano de Proserpina (Proserpina Dam), also called Charca de la Albuera, a large Roman reservoir 3 miles (5 km) north, water was conveyed to Mérida by a mighty aqueduct known as Los Milagros, of which there are extensive remains. The Roman theatre is well preserved; there are also vestiges of an amphitheatre and of a circus. The archaeological remains of the town were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993. The contemporary town’s economy is based on agricultural trade (cotton, tobacco) and tourism. Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 54,894.