In 25 BC, Augustus founded a city beside the river Guadiana for soldiers discharged after the Cantabrian Wars. He called it Emerita Augusta and made it capital of the province of Lusitania. Today nowhere in Spain preserves so much of Rome in so small a space. Twelve stops between the seats of the theatre Agrippa paid for, its stage front of marble columns, the gladiators' amphitheatre, Rafael Moneo's brick museum, the forum portico, the temple that was never Diana's, the arch that has nothing to do with Trajan, the fortress of the emirs of Córdoba, the sixty-arched bridge over the Guadiana, the Aqueduct of the Miracles, the basilica of the child martyr Eulalia and the circus of the chariot races. Approximate audio duration: 20 minutes.
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Mérida: la ciudad que Augusto les regaló a sus veteranos
En el año 25 antes de Cristo, Augusto fundó junto al río Guadiana una ciudad para los soldados licenciados de las guerras cántabras. La llamó Emerita Augusta y la convirtió en capital de la provincia de Lusitania. Hoy ningún lugar de España conserva tanto de Roma en tan poco espacio. Doce paradas entre las gradas del teatro que pagó Agripa, su frente de columnas de mármol, el anfiteatro de los gladiadores, el museo de ladrillo de Rafael Moneo, el pórtico del foro, el templo que nunca fue de Diana, el arco que nada tiene que ver con Trajano, la alcazaba de los emires de Córdoba, el puente de sesenta arcos sobre el Guadiana, el acueducto de los Milagros, la basílica de la niña mártir Eulalia y el circo de las carreras de carros. Duración aproximada de audio: 20 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~20 min of audio · 5.36 km on foot (~1 h 20 min walking) · about 1 h 45 min in total
You are sitting in the stands of Mérida's Roman theatre. Below you lies the semicircular orchestra and, opposite, the great wall of columns. Take a moment on the stone.
This city was born in 25 BC. Augustus had just finished his war against the Cantabrians and Asturians in the north, and he needed land for his discharged soldiers. The Romans called such veterans emeriti. Hence the name Emerita Augusta. And hence, centuries later, Mérida.
A few years later, between 16 and 15 BC, this theatre went up. An inscription credits it to Marcus Agrippa, Augustus's son-in-law and right-hand man. It hel…
2
A Marble Wall for the Gods and the Emperor
Now you are facing the stage. Look up: two storeys of Corinthian columns, with shafts of blue-veined marble and white capitals. The Romans called this the scaenae frons, the stage front.
It was not scenery built for each play. It was permanent, and it carried a message. Between the columns stood statues of gods, such as Ceres, Pluto and Proserpina, and portraits of emperors too. The audience watched tragedy with Rome looking back at them from the wall.
What you see is not all from Agrippa's time. The stage front was rebuilt more lavishly later on, and in the fourth century, under Constantine…
3
Where the Gladiators Fought
You are beside the amphitheatre, right next to the theatre. Look at its shape: not a semicircle but a closed ellipse, with the arena in the middle. Nobody came here to hear verse. They came to see blood.
An inscription records that it opened in 8 BC, a few years after the theatre. It could hold some fifteen thousand spectators, more than twice as many as its neighbour.
In this arena gladiators fought, men trained in schools to kill or die before the crowd. There were also hunts of wild animals and executions of condemned prisoners.
Notice the large pit cut into the centre of the arena. It w…
4
The Museum Moneo Built Like a Roman Building
Cross the street and stand in front of the National Museum of Roman Art. Look at the facade: solid brick, tall arches, almost no ornament. It looks ancient, but it opened in 1986.
It was designed by the Navarrese architect Rafael Moneo, who ten years later would win the Pritzker Prize. His idea was not to imitate Rome with fake columns, but to build the way the Romans built: with brick walls and repeated arches.
Inside, the main nave is a sequence of enormous identical arches, crossed by light falling from the roof. Under that light stand the statues from the theatre, the mosaics from the ho…
5
Medusa and Jupiter Watching Over the Forum
You are in the heart of the Roman city, in front of a reconstructed stretch of portico. Look above the columns: there are large round stone shields with carved faces.
These shields are called clipei. Some show the head of Jupiter Ammon, with ram's horns. Others show Medusa, with snakes in her hair. Between them, in niches, stood statues of men in togas.
This was the municipal forum, the main square of Emerita Augusta. Here were the temples, the courts and the shops. Here people voted, stood trial and traded.
The design was not invented in Mérida. It copied the Forum of Augustus in Rome, whi…
6
The Temple That Was Never Diana's
You are in front of the so-called Temple of Diana. Look at the columns: granite, tall, fluted, on a raised podium. They are more than two thousand years old and still standing among the houses.
The first thing to know is that it was almost certainly not dedicated to Diana. The name was given centuries later, without evidence. Archaeologists believe it was a temple of the imperial cult, where Augustus and his family were worshipped as gods.
It was built between the end of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD. The granite was not meant to be seen: it was covered in st…
7
The Arch That Isn't Trajan's
You are standing beneath the Arch of Trajan. Look up: a single granite arch some fifteen metres high, wedged between the houses of an ordinary street. Cars and people pass under it as if it were nothing.
Like the temple a moment ago, this monument has the wrong name. There is no evidence linking it to the emperor Trajan. Nor was it a triumphal arch.
Most likely it was the monumental gateway to a great sacred precinct, the provincial forum. Mérida was not just any city: it was capital of Lusitania, a province covering much of present-day Portugal and western Spain.
Look at the blocks. They a…
8
The Fortress of the Emirs of Córdoba
You are beside the Alcazaba, the square fortress guarding the entrance to the bridge. Look at the walls: stones of every size, some with mouldings and reliefs that have nothing to do with a fortification.
In 835 Abd al-Rahman II, emir of Córdoba, ordered this fortress built. Mérida had rebelled several times against Córdoba, and the emir wanted to control the city and the river crossing. A stone recording the foundation date survives in the museum.
It is considered the oldest surviving alcazaba in al-Andalus. It was built with whatever lay to hand: Roman blocks, pieces of Visigothic building…
9
Sixty Arches Over the Guadiana
You are on the Roman bridge, above the Guadiana. Look ahead: the granite roadway stretches almost eight hundred metres to the far bank, resting on some sixty arches.
It is one of the longest surviving Roman bridges in the world. It was built when the city was founded, at the end of the first century BC. The site was no accident: here the river splits into channels and an island helped the crossing.
Notice that the arches are not all alike. Some were rebuilt after floods swept away whole sections, and after wars that damaged it. The bridge you see is Roman at heart, but patched over two thous…
10
The Aqueduct of the Miracles
You are facing the Aqueduct of the Miracles, across the valley of the river Albarregas. Look at the piers: bands of granite alternating with courses of red brick, and on top, very often, storks' nests.
The surviving stretch is about eight hundred and thirty metres long and reaches some twenty-five metres high. Along the top ran a channel bringing water to the city from the Proserpina reservoir, several kilometres to the north.
That reservoir is Roman too, and it still holds water. Mérida had at least two great dams and several aqueducts. For a city on the open plain of Extremadura, with brut…
11
The Child Martyr and the Temple of Mars
You are in front of the Basilica of Santa Eulalia. Before looking at the church, notice the small chapel in front of it, with columns and a marble frieze. People in Mérida call it the Hornito, the little oven.
That chapel was assembled in the seventeenth century from pieces of a Roman temple. Look at the frieze: you can still read a Latin inscription dedicating the work to Mars. It was paid for by a woman named Vettilla. A pagan god of war ended up as an altar for a Christian saint.
Eulalia's story goes back to 304, during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian. According to tradition,…
12
The Circus of the Chariot Races
You are in front of the Roman circus, on the edge of the ancient city. Look at its length: a track some four hundred metres long, with a low wall down the middle dividing it in two. That wall was called the spina.
There were no gladiators or actors here. There were horse-drawn chariot races, the most popular spectacle in the whole empire. The chariots raced seven laps around the spina at full speed, grazing the turning posts at each end.
The stands could hold around thirty thousand people. That is twice the amphitheatre and five times the theatre. It is one of the best preserved Roman circus…
How long does the "Mérida: the City Augustus Gave His Veterans" audio tour take?
It has about 20 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 5.36 km walking route (~1 h 20 min on foot). Plan roughly 1 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Seats Agrippa Paid For" (coordinates 38.9156, -6.3382). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Mérida and pick "Mérida: the City Augustus Gave His Veterans". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian
