The city became the capital of the Lusitania province and one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire, I was there for a day and a half and was incredibly impressed by the magnificence of the Roman buildings, I felt at times that I had been transported back 2000 years, no matter what superlatives that I could use to describe the wonderful buildings they would not be sufficient; I hope that perhaps the slide show to the right will do them justice.

The remains of Roman buildings are spread throughout the city and they are all important features of the Roman city such as the theatre, the amphitheatre, two aqueducts, a circus for chariot racing, a Forum, the Temple of Diana and a bridge over the Guadiana.

The Roman city covered only a little less area than the present city, which suggests that there is a lot more that probably will never be unearthed under the new buildings of Merida. 

I am sure that many builders in the city have discovered Roman stone and brickwork when digging to lay foundations for new buildings and have remained silent re their discovery to avoid delays while archeologists investigated their find. 

Close to the amphitheatre is an excellent museum in a new building that was finished in 1986. The basement of the museum has been excavated and numerous Roman walls have been revealed as well as a section of perfectly preserved Roman road. The slide show to the right will I hope convey an idea of what you will see in the museum.

In July and August of every year the Roman Theatre holds a festival of theatre which includes classical Greek plays and Shakespeare's Roman tragedies. The web site for this festival is www.festivaldemerida.es  unfortunately it is a very basic web site that reveals not much more than the relevant telephone numbers and it is in Spanish only.