The scaenae frons
Two storeys of marble columns and statues behind the stage.
Fernando — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Elemaki — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Falk2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Falk2 — CC BY-SA 4.0
**The best-preserved Roman theatre in Spain — its stage front still standing in two storeys of columns** — and it is still used as a theatre every summer. **Marcus Agrippa** — the emperor Augustus's son-in-law — built it around **15 BC**, ⚠ **seating some six thousand**. ✅ **What distinguishes it is the *scaenae frons***: **the wall behind the stage, in two storeys of marble columns and statues** — ⚠ **the element lost at almost every other Roman theatre**, **being the tallest and the easiest to collapse and loot**; ✅ **and here it stands**. ⚠ **It was completely buried** until the early 20th century — **only the tops of the tiers showed**, **and locals called them «the seven chairs»**. ✅ **And it hosts the Mérida theatre festival** every summer since 1933.
Two storeys of marble columns and statues behind the stage.
Stone rows for six thousand, divided by social rank.
Evening performances on the same stage since 1933.
Plaza Margarita Xirgu, 06800 Merida, Spain
**The capital of an entire Roman province, founded to settle discharged soldiers — and the name says so.** ✅ **The founding**: **Augustus founded it in 25 BC** as **Emerita Augusta** — ⚠ ***emeriti* meaning soldiers who had completed their service**; **so the city was created to settle the veterans of two legions** after the Cantabrian wars. ✅ **Then it became a capital**: **capital of the province of Lusitania** — **one of Hispania's three provinces** — ⚠ **meaning a governor, an administration, taxes and courts**, **and a public budget spent on buildings**. ✅ **Hence what it holds**: **a theatre, an amphitheatre, a circus for chariot racing seating thirty thousand, two aqueducts, an 800-metre Roman bridge, temples and a forum** — **the complete set of a provincial capital**, ✅ **not a country town**. ⚠ **Why it survived**: **Mérida declined sharply after the Romans** — **so no great city grew over it to consume its stone**, ✅ **and the buildings stayed buried or standing**; **the same pattern as at Ravenna and Ávila**. ✅ **The whole ensemble is a World Heritage site**, ⚠ **and most of it has not been excavated**.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.