6 Best Sights in Merida, Extremadura

Across the street from the entrance to the Roman sites and connected by an underground passage is Mérida's superb Roman art museum, in a building designed by the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo. Walk through a series of passageways to the luminous, cathedral-like main exhibition hall, which is supported by arches the same proportion and size (50 feet) as the Roman arch in the center of Mérida, the Arco de Trajano (Trajan's Arch). Exhibits include mosaics, frescoes, jewelry, statues, pottery, household utensils, and other Roman works. The crypt beneath the museum contains the remains of several homes and a necropolis that were uncovered while the museum was being built in 1981.

Museum closed for renovation at time of writing. 

Mérida's Roman teatro (theater) and anfiteatro (amphitheater) are set in a verdant park, and the theater—the best preserved in Spain—seats 6,000 and is used for a classical drama festival each July. The amphitheater, which holds 15,000 spectators, opened in 8 BC for gladiatorial contests. Next to the entrance to the ruins is the main tourist office, where you can pick up maps and brochures. Park at the Hernán Cortés lot (Calle Cabo Verde 2) for easy access. 

Along the river sits the oldest fortress in the Iberian Peninsula. Built by the Moors in the 9th century, the fortress's walls are over 6 feet thick and 33 feet high, designed to protect the dwellings of Mérida's important officials. Climb up to the battlements for sweeping river views, or go underground to see the aljibe, or cistern. You can also visit a perfect conserved portion of a Roman road.

Originally Visigothic, this basilica marks the site of a Roman temple as well as the alleged place where the child martyr Eulalia was burned alive in AD 304 for spitting in the face of a Roman magistrate. The site was a focal point for pilgrimages during the Middle Ages. In 1990, excavations revealed layer upon layer of Paleolithic, Roman, Visigoth, and Byzantine settlements. The popular €17 sightseeing combination ticket sold at the tourist office includes entry only into the underground crypt of the basilica; it's €2 to visit the main structure.

An abandoned 18th-century church contains this easily digestible museum compiling some of the most important Visigoth artworks on the Iberian Peninsula. It's a branch of the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano, in a separate location north of the Plaza de España, in Mérida's old town.

Mérida's main square is lively day and night. The oldest building is a 16th-century palace, now the Hotel Ilunion Mérida Palace. Behind it stretches Mérida's most charming area, with Andalusian-esque white houses shaded by palms, in the midst of which stands the Arco de Trajano, part of a Roman city gate. It's a great place to people-watch over tapas at sunset.