Amphitheatre of Mérida
Anfiteatro de Mérida | |
| Location | Mérida (Badajoz), Spain |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°54′58.3″N 6°20′15.8″W / 38.916194°N 6.337722°W |
| Type | Roman amphitheatre |
| Official name | Amphitheatre |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii, iv |
| Designated | 1993 (17th session) |
| Part of | "Roman Theatre, Amphitheatre, the Amphitheatre House" part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida |
| Reference no. | 664-005 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Official name | Anfiteatro Romano |
| Type | Non-movable |
| Criteria | Monument |
| Designated | 13 December 1912 |
| Reference no. | RI-51-0000108 |
The Amphitheatre of Mérida is a Roman amphitheatre in the Roman colonia of Emerita Augusta –present-day Mérida, Spain–, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. It was completed in the year 8 BC, and is currently in ruins. It was used for gladiatorial fights and combats between beasts or men and beasts during ancient Rome.
The city itself, Emerita Augusta, was founded in 25 BC by Augustus, to resettle emeritus soldiers discharged from the Roman army from two veteran legions of the Cantabrian Wars (the Legio V Alaudae and Legio X Gemina). The term emeritus refers to the soldiers, all of whom had been honorably discharged from service.
The amphitheatre was built as part of an entertainment complex together with the Roman Theatre. Nowadays both are part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, which is one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain and that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993.