How to visit the Roman Museum of Mérida (Badajoz): schedules, prices

El National Roman Museum of Mérida is one of best archaeological museums in Spain.

Walking through its rooms is like entering the time, about 2000 years ago, when Augusta Emerita was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitana, the westernmost of the empire, and was one of the most flourishing towns in Europe.

To somehow imitate the splendor of Rome then in present-day Mérida the ,, anfiteatro and circus, plus hot springs, forums, bridges, etc.

Many of the remains from this period are displayed in the rooms of this exceptional museum.

In addition to the numerous works it displays, the museum has been valued worldwide for the building that houses it, a work of the architect Rafael Moneo, for which it was a great success with international impact.

For all these reasons, the Roman museum It is one of the fundamental stages in a tourism visit to Mérida or on any tour of the badajoz province.

Mérida It is, of course, a place to take into account when organizing any tour of Estremadura.

This museum is mainly made up of pieces found in excavations carried out in the city of Mérida itself or in nearby areas, which tells us about the importance of the aforementioned Augusta Emeritus.

Where is the Roman museum of Mérida

The museum is very well located next to the Roman Theatre, Amphitheater and Amphitheater House, and very close distance from others monumental places of Mérida, making it very easy to incorporate into a city tour.

Being located in the José Ramón Mélida street, a pedestrian street full of bars and restaurants, at any time, before or after the visit the museum, it is possible to rest and have a drink or eat within a very short distance.

Roman Museum of Mérida, building by architect Moneo

As has already been said, the building itself is already worthy of admiration, regardless of the importance of the collections it houses.

It is a monumental work, at the same level as the large nearby spaces such as the theater itself.

Built of brick, it seems to be surrounded by a large wall, but the uniformity of the walls is broken by the buttresses and high windows.

Upon entering we see the meaning of all this.

First you go down a ramp and through a relatively small opening and enter the large central room, which is overwhelming due to its immensity, since this space has something like a cathedral.

The exterior buttresses are part of the nine arches that define this large space, which is illuminated by a diffuse overhead light that enters through those tall windows.

The complex faithfully reproduces the monumentality of the public works of the Roman empire.

These arches have the same dimensions as the arch of trajan which is located in the center of Mérida and the space that is formed between them is what defines the Exhibition halls to the right and some areas with less depth, in front of each one, to the left.

What to see when visiting the Roman Museum of Mérida

The first three rooms focus on public and private life in Augusta Emeritus. and so we begin by taking a tour of the public spectacles, of enormous importance throughout the world. Empire.

We found pieces from Theater and the Amphitheateras paintings that refer to gladiator fights with wild beasts. There's also reliefs which represent fights between gladiators.

Very interesting are all the sculptures who come from different sectors of the theater. They are represented, among others, Augusto y Tiberio.

Una statue of Augustus, larger than life size, occupied a prominent place in the theater. Statues of the gods adorned the stage front.

Religious cult in the Roman museum of Mérida

The of rooms The following are dedicated to religious cult.

La roman religion It was a mixture of influences from different origins, and thus we see references to Greco-Latin pantheon, but also to oriental divinities, as well as local ones.

To all this we must add the cult of the emperor, who was considered a God after his death.

In addition to statues, highlight the tombstones, decorated lintels, altars and a beautiful mosaic dedicated to Worm.

The sixth room is dedicated to the funeral rites.

After death, it was necessary to perform numerous rites to prevent the souls of the deceased from wandering into the afterlife.

House in the Roman museum of Mérida

The seventh room focuses on the Roman house, where the reconstruction of a home richly decorated with frescoes on the walls or with a mosaic on the flooro.

On the left side appears the curb of a well and behind a mosaic that reproduces the episode of abduction of europe.

The next two rooms are dedicated to the life in the forums, the municipal and the provincial.

The monumental character of the decoration of the forums can be seen in a large corbel shaped like a bull's head.

Now it's time to go up to the first floor and explore new rooms, which are located above those on the ground floor, and house much smaller objects.

Is ceramic and glass pieces besides a coin collection.

You then go up to the second floor, where the rooms are dedicated to different aspects of society and its artistic manifestation.

Here we find very different pieces from each other, such as the utensils of a doctor, figurines, reliefs that represent everyday scenes, etc.

Mosaics in the Roman Museum of Mérida

The most spectacular are the huge mosaics that cover some walls of these rooms.

El mosaic call of The stores by the name of the area where it was found, represents the wild boar hunt.

Other mosaics are that of the Seven Wise Men and of the Charioteers.

Crypt in the Roman museum of Mérida

When you finish seeing all the rooms on the ground floor and the two upper ones, don't forget to stop by the crypt.

The museum is built very close to the theater and other monumental buildings, so it was expected that archaeological finds would be made on that site when construction began.

These remains have been integrated into the museum as another room.

The first thing you see is a small stretch of a road, which left the walls, crossed the eastern necropolis and joined the road that headed to Córdoba.

It is then passed to the crypt, the basements of the museum, and there we found what was in this place 20 centuries ago, the houses in a neighborhood that was outside the walls.

Schedule to visit the Roman Museum of Mérida

As already stated, the National Museum of Roman Art It is located very few meters from the premises of the Theater and Amphitheater, so it is very easy to combine the visit.

The Visiting hours of the Roman Museum of Mérida They are, from October to March, from Tuesday to Saturday, from 9,30:18 a.m. to 9,30 p.m., and from April to September, from 20:XNUMX a.m. to XNUMX p.m.

On Sundays the museum is open throughout the year from 10 a.m. to 15 p.m., and closed on Mondays.

The ticket prices The general price is 3 euros, with a reduced entrance fee of 1,50 euros, and they can visit the Roman Museum of Mérida for free, among other groups, those under 18 years old, students between 18 and 25 years old, seniors +65, pensioners and people with disabilities.

In addition to the permanent exhibition, temporary exhibitions are organized periodically.

It should be noted that the Visigothic art collection The museum is not located in this building but in the convento of Santa Clara.