[citation needed] The city, one of the largest in Hispania, was the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, controlling an area of over 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi).

Roman roads connected the city west to Felicitas Julia Olisippo (Lisbon), south to Hispalis (Seville), northwest to the gold mining area, and to Corduba (Córdoba) and Toletum (Toledo).

Subsequently, with the advent of Christianity as Rome's sole state religion, theatrical performances were officially declared immoral: the theatre was abandoned and most of its fabric was covered with earth, leaving only its upper tiers of seats (summa cavea).

In Spanish tradition, these were known as "The Seven Chairs" in which it is popularly thought that several Moorish kings held court to decide the fate of the city.

It was sited outside the city walls, alongside the road that connected Emeritus in Corduba (Córdoba) with Toletum (Toledo).

A lengthwise spina formed a central divide within, to provide a continuous trackway for two-horse and four-horse chariot racing.

The location of the bridge was carefully selected at a ford of the river Guadiana, which offered as a support a central island that divides it into two channels.

The original structure did not provide the continuity of the present, as it was composed of two sections of arches joined at the island, by a large Starling.

In the Roman era the length was extended several times, adding at least five consecutive sections of arches so that the road is not cut during the periodic flooding of the Guadiana.

This aqueduct dates from the early 1st century BC, and was part of the supply system that brought water to Mérida from the Proserpina Dam located 5 km from the city.

This building was found fortuitously in the early 1960s, and is located on the southern slope of Mount San Albín.

It demonstrates the peristyle house with interior garden and a room of the famous western sector Cosmogonic Mosaic, an allegorical representation of the elements of nature (rivers, winds, etc.)

According to professor Jaime Alvar Ezquerra of the Charles III University of Madrid, the oldest Mithraeum artefacts are observed outside of Rome and Mérida "is at the head of the provincial places where the cult is encountered".

These are currently located in the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, including the latest remains found in excavations as recently as 2003.