Mérida, Spain
Encyclopedia
Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...

, western central Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It has a population of 57,127 (2010). The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 since 1993.

Climate

Merida has a Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

 with Atlantic influences, due to the proximity of the Portuguese coast. The winters are mild, with minimum rarely below 0 °C (32 °F), and summers are hot with maximum temperatures occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).

As for precipitation, it normally measures between 450 and 500 mm annually . The months that record the most rainfall are November and December. Summers are dry, however, and it should be noted that in Merida, as in the rest of southern Spain, cycles of drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

 are common, ranging in duration from 2 to 5 years.

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

Both humidity and winds are low. However, frequent occurrence of fog, especially in the central months of autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....

 and winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...

.

History

It was founded in the year 25 BC
25 BC
Year 25 BC was either a common year starting on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday or a leap year starting on Wednesday or Thursday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...

, with the name of Emerita Augusta
Emerita Augusta
The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain. Mainly of Emerita Augusta, ancient capital of Lusitania . It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993....

(meaning the bachelors – discharged soldiers – of the army of Augustus, who founded the city; the name Mérida is an evolution of this) by order of Emperor Augustus, to protect a pass and a bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 over the Guadiana
Guadiana
The Guadiana , or Odiana, is an international river located on the Portuguese–Spanish border, separating Extremadura and Andalucia from Alentejo and Algarve...

 river. The city became the capital of Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...

 province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

, and one of the most important cities in the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. Mérida preserves more important ancient Roman monuments
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...

 than any other city in Spain (including a triumphal arch
Triumphal arch
A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...

 of the age of Trajan).

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....

, during the Visigothic period, the city maintained much of its splendor, especially under the 6th century domination of the bishops, when it was the capital of Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

. In 713 it was conquered by the Muslim army under Musa bin Nusair
Musa bin Nusair
Musa bin Nusayr al-Balawi was a balawi who served as a governor and general under the Umayad caliph Al-Walid I. He had ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa , and directed the islamic opening of the Visigothic kingdom in Hispania....

, and became the capital of the cora of Mérida; the Arabs re-used most of the old Roman edifices and expanded them (such as in the case of the Alcazaba).

The city returned under Christians hands in 1230, when it was conquered by Alfonso IX of León
Alfonso IX of Leon
Alfonso IX was king of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death...

, and subsequently became the seat of the priory of San Marcos de León of the Order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...

. A period of recovery started for Mérida after the unification of the Crowns of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

 and Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

 (15th century), thanks to the support of Alonso de Cárdenas, Grand Master of the Order. In 1720 the city became the capital of the Intendencia of Mérida.

In the 19th century, in the course of the Napoleonic invasion
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, numerous monuments of Mérida and of Extremadura were destroyed or damaged. Later the city became a railway hub and underwent massive industrialization.

Main sights

Among the remaining Roman monuments are:
  • the Puente Romano
    Puente Romano (Mérida)
    The Puente Romano is a Roman bridge over the Guadiana River at Mérida, Spain. It is the longest surviving bridge from ancient times, having once featured an estimated overall length of 755 m with 62 spans. Today, there are 60 spans on a length of 721 m between the abutments...

    , a bridge over the Guadiana
    Guadiana
    The Guadiana , or Odiana, is an international river located on the Portuguese–Spanish border, separating Extremadura and Andalucia from Alentejo and Algarve...

     River that is still used by pedestrians, and the longest of all existing Roman bridge
    Roman bridge
    Roman bridges, built by ancient Romans, were the first large and lasting bridges built. Roman bridges were built with stone and had the arch as its basic structure....

    s. Annexed is a fortification (the Alcazaba), built by the Muslim emir Abd ar-Rahman II
    Abd ar-Rahman II
    Abd ar-Rahman II was Umayyad Emir of Córdoba in the Al-Andalus from 822 until his death.He was born in Toledo, the son of Emir Al-Hakam I...

     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
    Roman Forum (Mérida)
    The Roman Forum is an archaeological area in Mérida, Spain. It was the main public area of the Roman city of Emerita Augusta, founded in 25 BC by Emperor Augustus. The city had another forum, the Provincial Forum, built in 50 AD. Together with the other archaeological sites of the city, it was...

    , including the Temple of Diana, and of the Roman Provincial Forum, including the Arch of Trajan
  • remains of the Circus Maximus
    Circus Maximus (Mérida)
    The Circus Maximus is a Roman hippodrome in Mérida, Spain. Used for chariot racing, it was modelled on the Circus Maximus in Rome and other circus buildings throughout the empire...

     (1st century BC), one of the best preserved Roman circus buildings
  • Acueducto de los Milagros
    Acueducto de los Milagros
    The Acueducto de los Milagros is a ruined Roman aqueduct in Mérida, Spain, formerly the Roman colony of Emerita Augusta....

    (aqueduct of Miracles)
  • patrician villa
    Roman villa
    A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...

     called the Villa Mitreo
    Mithraeum
    A Mithraeum is a place of worship for the followers of the mystery religion of Mithraism.The Mithraeum was either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural...

    , with precious mosaic pavements
  • Proserpina Dam
    Proserpina Dam
    The Proserpina Dam is a Roman gravity dam in Badajoz , Extremadura, Spain, dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD. It was built as part of the infrastructure which supplied the city of Emerita Augusta with water....

     and Cornalvo Dam
    Cornalvo Dam
    The Cornalvo Dam is a Roman gravity dam in Badajoz province, Extremadura, Spain, dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD. The earth dam with stone cladding on the water face is still in use.- See also :* List of Roman dams and reservoirs* Roman architecture...

    , two Roman reservoirs still in use
  • the Amphitheatre, and the Roman theatre, where a summer festival of Classical theater is presented, usually with versions of Greco-Roman classics or modern plays set in ancient times.
  • Morerías archaeological site
  • Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (designed by Rafael Moneo
    Rafael Moneo
    José Rafael Moneo Vallés is a Spanish architect. He was born in Tudela, Spain, and won the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996. He studied at the ETSAM, Technical University of Madrid from which he received his architectural degree in 1961. From 1958 to 1961 he worked in the office in Madrid...

    )
  • 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
    Co-cathedral of Saint Mary Major of Mérida
    The Metropolitan co-cathedral of Saint Mary Major of Mérida is a Roman Catholic cathedral church in Mérida, Extremadura, western Spain. Since 1994, together with the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist of Badajoz, it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz.- History :Mérida...

     (13th-14th centuries)
  • Renaissance Ajuntamento (Town Hall)
  • Church of Santa Clara (17th century)
  • Gothic
    Gothic architecture
    Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

     church of Nuestra Señora de la Antigua (15th-16th centuries)
  • Baroque church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen (18th century)


There are several notable buildings built recently, such as 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 center), the Ciudad Deportiva (sports city), the Universidad de Mérida (Mérida University), the Confederación Hidrografica del Guadiana (Guadiana Hydrographic Confederation designed by Rafael Moneo
Rafael Moneo
José Rafael Moneo Vallés is a Spanish architect. He was born in Tudela, Spain, and won the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996. He studied at the ETSAM, Technical University of Madrid from which he received his architectural degree in 1961. From 1958 to 1961 he worked in the office in Madrid...

), the Puente Lusitania (Lusitania Bridge over the Guadiana River designed by Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....

), the Palacio de Justicia (Justice Hall), etc.

International relations

Mérida is twinned with: Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 Mérida
Mérida, Mérida
Santiago de los Caballeros de Mérida, Venezuela, is the capital of the municipality of Libertador and the state of Mérida, and is one of the principal cities of the Venezuelan Andes...

, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 Mérida
Mérida, Yucatán
Mérida is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Yucatán and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in the northwest part of the state, about from the Gulf of Mexico coast...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 Mérida
Merida, Leyte
Merida is a 4th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 25,326 people in 5,622 households.-Barangays:Merida is politically subdivided into 22 barangays.* Benabaye* Cabaliwan...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...


External links




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