Trip to Mérida

Hello again, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the pictures and posts so far, and that they are helping you to feel closer to your kids here on the other side of the Pond.

This last Saturday, we took a trip to Mérida, the capital of the Iberian Penninsula during the Roman Occupation around 25 B.C. Here is the Frommers.com overview for Mérida:

"Founded in 25 B.C., Mérida is at the intersection of the Roman roads linking
Toledo with Lisbon and Salamanca with Seville. Once the capital of Lusitania
(the Latin name for ancient Portugal, which included parts of southwestern
Spain), Mérida was one of the most splendid cities in Iberia. It ranked as a
town of major importance in the Roman Empire -- in fact, it was once called
a miniature Rome. Its monuments, temples, and public works make it the site
of some of the finest Roman ruins in Spain, and as such it is the tourist
capital of Extremadura."

Some of the finest Roman ruins in Spain is no exaggeration! Rome itself is nice and has some interesting ruins, but it's got nothing on Mérida for it's level of preservation and over-all coolness.

We got up early in the morning on Saturday and caught a train to Mérida, which is about an hour away from Caceres. The landscape on the way there was very lovely and on our way in, we caught sight of our first ruin, the Acueducto de los Milagros. From http://www.spain.info/o/:

"The Aqueduct of Los Milagros which the Abarregas River and supplied the city with water from the Roman dam of Proserpina."

It's very cool and one of the best-preserved in the world.

After arriving in Mérida, Gemma directed us to the park that contains the ruins of the Roman Theater and Ampitheater. These buildings were incredible! From http://www.spain.info/:

"The splendorous history of Merida can be observed in the monumental and
archaeological ensemble that it keeps, one of the best preserved in Spain.

Thus, the Roman legacy is still present in almost every little corner
of town, the Roman Theatre being one of the most emblematic constructions.
Erected in the first century B.C., the theatre can seat 6,000 people. The stage is dominated by two stacked rows of columns, ornamented with sculptures of deities and imperial figures. Next to it is the Amphitheatre, a stage where gladiators wrestled with beasts. This building, contemporary with the previous one, preserves some of its original elements, like the grandstands, the box and the gallery.

Both precincts come back to life each summer with the celebration of the
Merida Classical Theatre Festival, one of the most important of its kind in
Spain."

Gemma also took us around town to see the various ruins interspersed among the modern buildings. The best one was the Temple of Diana. This temple was built around the same time as the Theater and Ampitheater. The city was later taken over by the Moors, and then abandoned around 1500. Then in the 1700's, after Christians had moved into the city, the Temple was turned into a house and occupied as such until 1972, when it was handed over to the Spanish government. In fact, Gemma is from Merida and knew the people that lived there before they turned it over! :)

Our time in Merida was too short and on the way back to the train station, we were able to get a good look at the Arch of Trajan, a massive arch and former original entrance to the city and built by Emperor Trajan, the emperor between 98-117. He had defeated the Dacians and temporarily occupied Mesopotamia. The arch marked the entrance of the provincial forum. Very cool.