Merida

The place name of Mérida derives from the Latin Emerita, with a meaning of retired or veteran. It is part of the name that the city received after its foundation by the emperor Augustus in 25 BC, Augusta Emerita, colony in which veteran soldiers or emeritus settled.

Mérida has been populated since prehistoric times, as demonstrated by a prestigious hoard of gold jewellery excavated from a girl's grave in 1870. Consisting of two penannular bracelets, an armlet, and a chain of six spiral wire rings, the hoard was carried away to the British Museum. The town was founded in 25 BC under the name Emerita Augusta (meaning "veterans of Augustus"), by order of Emperor Augustus, to settle discharged soldiers of the V Alaudae and X Gemina. Established to guard a strategic pass and the Guadiana river bridge, it quickly became one of the most important cities in Roman Hispania. It was the capital of the Lusitania province and later, in the 4th century, served as the capital of the Diocese of Hispania. …

Mérida has a Mediterranean climate with Atlantic influences (Köppen: Csa; Trewartha: Csak), due to the proximity of the Portuguese coast. The winters are mild, with minimum temperature rarely below 0 °C (32 °F), and summers are hot with maximum temperatures occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). Precipitation is normally between 300 and 400 mm (11.8 and 15.7 in) annually. The months with most rainfall are November and December. Summers are dry, and in Mérida, as in the rest of southern Spain, cycles of drought are common, ranging in duration from 2 to 5 years. In autumn the climate is more changeable than in the rest of the year. Storms occur with some frequency, but the weather is often dry. Both humidity and winds are low. However, there is frequent fog, especially in the central months of autumn and winter.

Among the remaining Roman monuments are: The Puente Romano, a bridge over the Guadiana River that is still used by pedestrians, and the longest of all existing Roman bridges. Annexed is a fortification (the Alcazaba), built by the Muslim emir Abd ar-Rahman II in 835 on the Roman walls and Roman-Visigothic edifices in the area. The court houses Roman mosaics, while underground is a Visigothic cistern. …

The nearest airport to the city is Badajoz Airport, located 50 km (31 mi) west of Merida.