Art and culture
Roman Circus
Discover one of the most magnificent circuses in the Roman Empire and one of the best preserved.
- Explore
- Circo Romano
Place of entertainment in Emerita Augusta
Location and Contact:
- Contact person: Consorcio Ciudad Monumental de Mérida
- Tel.:+34 924 00 49 08
- Tel.:+34 924 33 07 22
- Fax: +34 924 00 49 16
- Email: informacion@consorciomerida.org
- Email: difusion@consorciomerida.org
- Website address: www.consorciomerida.org
- Website address: turismomerida.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeridaConsorcioDeLaCiudadMonumental
- Opening times
April-September: 9am - 9pm.
October-March: 9am - 6:30pm.
- Fee
Normal €6, reduced €3, groups €4.
More info: tickets
-
Discover one of the most magnificent circuses in the Roman Empire and one of the best preserved.
The Roman circus in Emerita Augusta was the largest building that the Romans built in the city for public entertainment. It was one of the largest in the Roman Empire and it is currently one of the best preserved. Its dimensions gave it a capacity of thirty thousand spectators, who were always eager to enjoy spectacular horse and chariot races. Its dimensions can still be appreciated together with the layout of the floor plan.
The structure was made up of a rectangular base which finished in a semicircle at one end which had the door through which the victors left. At the other, rectilinear end, were the cages out of which the chariots came.
On each side were the stands, separated from the arena by a podium and in the middle of the arena there was a raised wall. The façade was dressed in granite, with adjacent pilasters.
An enclosure for the entertainment and enjoyment of the Romans, built outside the city. -
- Origin:
-
- Romanisation (BC)
- Construction:
-
- Circus
- Art period:
-
- Romanisation
- Period in history:
-
- Romanisation
- Official name :
-
- World Heritage Site
Gallery:
More suggestions
-
Roman theatre of Mérida
The town of Mérida contains one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, of which the Roman theatre forms part.
-
Roman amphitheatre of Mérida
The setting for fights between gladiators and wild beasts in Roman times, a large part of the structure of this amphitheatre is preserved intact today.
-
Los Milagros Roman Aqueduct
This partially preserved massive aqueduct was one of the large works at Emerita Augusta for supplying water to the city.
-
Roman Temple of Diana
It is a beautiful religious Roman building, very well preserved, that is part of Mérida's archaeological ensemble.
-
Roman bridge on the Guadiana River
In the city of Mérida, on one of the most shallow sections of the Guadiana River, we find a bridge built in the 1st century, at the same time as the foundation of Emerita Augusta. Thanks to its large size and features it is one of the most important Roman bridges in the Peninsula.
-
House of Mitreo
A dwelling from Roman times, built on the outskirts of Emerita Augusta, where luxury and comfort were not lacking.
-
Morerías Archaeological Zone
Find out how the town of Mérida developed from Roman times to the Visigoth era.
-
National Roman Art Museum in Mérida
The National Roman Art Museum (MNAR) shows the visitor different sides of daily life in the province of Hispania.
-
Extremadura Geology Museum
Its collection has made this museum one of the most important of its kind.
-
Museum of Visigoth Art and Culture
The collection of Visigoth pieces in this museum brings together relics from Mérida from the 4th-8th centuries, as the capital of the Diocesis Hispaniarum and as the metropolitan capital of the province of Lusitania
-
Museum of Mérida
The Museum of the Town of Mérida houses a collection on the Mérida-born sculptor and other pieces that take one on a route through the town's history.
-
Roman theatre of Mérida
The town of Mérida contains one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, of which the Roman theatre forms part.
-
Rabo de Buey Aqueduct
Mérida was supplied with water by three main aqueducts in Roman times. One of them was the one called Rabo de Buey, or also San Lázaro.
-
Los Milagros Roman Aqueduct
This partially preserved massive aqueduct was one of the large works at Emerita Augusta for supplying water to the city.
-
Mérida citadel from the Moslem period
A walled fortress of impressive size and beauty commissioned by Abderramán II in the year 835.
-
Roman amphitheatre of Mérida
The setting for fights between gladiators and wild beasts in Roman times, a large part of the structure of this amphitheatre is preserved intact today.
-
Roman arch of Trajan
This arch was erected as part of the structure providing entry to a temple for imperial worship It is now the only one left of the three that existed formerly.