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MERIDA (anc. Augusta Emerita, capital...

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 165 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MERIDA (anc. See also:
AUGUSTA
Augusta Emerita, See also:
CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)
capital of Lusitania) , a See also:

TOWN

town of western See also:

Spain, in the See also:

province of See also:

Badajoz, on the right See also:

BANK

bank of the See also:

RIVER

river See also:

GUADIANA (anc. Anas, Moorish Wadi Ana)

Guadiana, 30 M. E. of Badajoz. Pop. (1900), 11,168. Merida is an important railway junction, for here the See also:

MADRID

Madrid-Badajoz railway meets the lines from See also:

Seville, See also:

Huelva and See also:

CACERES

Caceres. No See also:

SPANISH

Spanish town is richer in See also:

ROMAN

Roman antiquities. Most of these are beyond the limits of See also:

MODERN

modern Merida, which is greatly inferior in See also:

AREA

area to the See also:

ancient See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city. See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

Chief among them is the Roman See also:

BRIDGE

bridge, constructed of See also:

GRANITE (adapted from the Ital. granite, grained; Lat. granum, grain)

granite under See also:

TRAJAN [MARCUS ULPIUS TRAJANUS] (A. D. 53-117)

Trajan, or, according to some authorities, under See also:

AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)

Augustus, and restored by the Visigoths in 686 and by See also:

Philip III. in Oro. It comprised 81 See also:

ARCHES, COURT OF

arches, 17 of which were destroyed during the See also:

SIEGE (0. Fr. sege, siege, mod. siege, seat, ultimately from sedere, to sit, cf. Class. Lat. obsidium, a siege)

siege of Badajoz (1812), and measured 2575 ft. in length. There are a few remnants of Romantemples and of the See also:

COLOSSAL

colossal See also:

wall which encircled the city, besides a Roman triumphal See also:

arch, commonly called the Arco de See also:

SANTIAGO, or SANTIAGO DE CHILE

Santiago, and a second Roman bridge, by which the road to See also:

Salamanca was carried across the small river Albarregas (See also:

ALBA

Alba Regia). The Moorish alcdzar or citadel was originally the chief Roman fort.

From the Lago de Proserpina, or Charca de la See also:

ALBUERA, or ALBUHERA, LA

Albuera, a large Roman See also:

RESERVOIR

reservoir, 3 M. See also:

north, See also:

WATER

water was conveyed to Merida by an See also:

AQUEDUCT (Lat. aqua, water, and ducere, to lead; Gr. apaymryeiov, apayeeywov, vlrovopos)

aqueduct, of which 37 enormous piers remain See also:

STANDING

standing, with ten arches in three tiers built of See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick and granite. The massive Roman See also:

THEATRE (BEarpov, " a place for seeing," from OeacOae)

theatre is in See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good preservation; there are also a few vestiges of an See also:

AMPHITHEATRE (Gr. 441, around, and O&arpov, a place for spectators)

amphitheatre and of a See also:

CIRCUS (Lat. circus, Gr. Kipeos or Kptxot, a ring or' circle; probably " circus " and " ring " are of the same origin)

circus which measured 485 yds. by 120. Other Roman remains are exhibited in the archaeological museum, and much Roman See also:

MASONRY

masonry is incorporated in the 16th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century Mudejar See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace of the See also:

dukes of La Roca, the palace of the See also:

COUNTS

counts of Los Corbos, and the See also:

CONVENT (Lat. conventus, from convenire, to come together)

convent of See also:

SANTA

Santa Eulalia, which is said by tradition to See also:

mark the spot where St Eulalia was martyred (c. 300). Augusta Emerita was founded in 25 B.C. As the capital of Lusitania it soon became one of the most splendid cities in Iberia, and was large enough to contain a See also:

garrison of 90,000 men. Under the Visigoths it continued to prosper, and was made an archbishopric. Its fortifications included five castles and eighty-four gateways; but after a stubborn resistance it was stormed by the See also:

Moors in 713. Its Moorish See also:

GOVERNORS

governors frequently, and sometimes successfully, asserted their See also:

independence, but Merida was never the capital of any large Moorish • See also:

state. In 1129 its archbishopric was formally transferred to Santiago de Compostela, and in 1228, when See also:

ALPHONSO

Alphonso IX. of See also:

Leon expelled the Moors, Merida was entrusted to the See also:

order of Santiago, in whose keeping it soon sank into decadence.

End of Article: MERIDA (anc. Augusta Emerita, capital of Lusitania)

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