Roman Theatre of Merida
Augustan theatre of Emerita Augusta with a colonnaded stage front, still used for summer drama.
The theatre was built between 16 and 15 BC in the Roman colony of Emerita Augusta, founded for veteran soldiers in 25 BC, and was paid for by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law of the emperor Augustus. Its semicircular cavea, cut partly into the slope of the San Albin hill, held an audience of about 6,000 in three tiers of seating. The building was remodelled in the first and again in the fourth century, and the site gradually silted up until systematic excavation began in 1910 under Jose Ramon Melida.
The best known feature is the scaenae frons, a two-storey stage front of marble columns, entablatures and statues restored during the twentieth century. Behind the stage lie a colonnaded garden and the remains of rooms used by performers, and a small Augustan shrine stands at its far end. The theatre forms part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Merida, inscribed by UNESCO in 1993, and its combined ticket also covers the adjoining amphitheatre, the Alcazaba, the Mithraeum house and the circus.
Highlights
- Two-storey marble scaenae frons behind the stage
- Cavea in three tiers seating around 6,000 spectators
- Colonnaded peristyle garden behind the stage building
- Part of a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological ensemble
