The Best Sight We Saw That We Haven't Seen Before -- The Merida Roman Theatre

The Roman theatre is the best Roman site in Merida, which is chock-a-bloc full of Roman sites. 

Editor: Do you get a bonus for using "Roman" three times in the same sentence.  Writer: I should!

Is it as impressive as Cordoba's Mezquita, Granada's Alhambra, or Seville's Royal Alcazar?  Quite possibly.  It's not as beautiful, but it did cause my jaw to drop.  We had seen the first three at least once before, heck, Carol's seen the Mezquita and Royal Alcazar three times and isn't tired of either place.

The Roman Theatre of Merida was built under the patronage of Agrippa (who readers may remember has his name on the Pantheon in Roman) around 16-15 BC.

It's a visually stunning place to visit and is clearly the crown jewel of a city full of jewels of Roman ruins.

It was also voted one of the "12 Treasures of Spain" in 2007, along with the Mezquita, the Seville Cathedral, Alhambra, and my personal favorite building, Sagrada Familia.  Turns out we've now been to eight of the 12 Treasures.  

The Theatre was abandoned in Late Antiquity, which is considered to cover from the second through eighth centuries, depending on the region.  It was slowly covered with earth with only the upper tiers of the seats remaining visible.  

The site was later known as "The Seven Chairs" where according to local folklore, several Moorish kings sat to decide the fate of the city.

Excavations began in 1910, led by Spanish archaeologist Jose Ramon Melida.  It was used to stage productions beginning in 1933, and still does.  Imagine seeing a play there now!  (Honestly, I'd need English captions, and I don't think those are done for plays!).

There are approximately 240 Roman Theatres found all over the Roman Empire.

The Theatre was constructed according to the rules of the treatises of Vitruvius (yes, the inspiration of Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man.")

According to Wikipedia:

The Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci's iconic drawing, symbolizes the ideal human form, the harmony between human anatomy and geometric principles, and the pursuit of balance and perfection.  It represents the Renaissance belief in universal constants and the integration of art and science."

So yeah, the whole "time is a flat circle" principle is at work, linking the Roman Theatre of Merida with da Vinci.  Mind blown!

The grandstands are incorporated into San Albin hill, and had a seating capacity of 6,000.  Alas, I was so taken with the stage that I didn't take any photos of the stands, but I suppose you aren't missing much.

The stage is spectacular (see photos in the post below), with the backdrop of the porticus post scaenam being a base of red marble, with Corinthian columns with blue-veined marble, with the bases and capitals being white.  The sculptures in the cornices and the friezes are copies of the originals, which are at the nearby (free!) museum.

The theatre underwent several renovations, the first believed to be at the end of the 1st century/early 2nd century likely during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and the second coming around 330-340 AD during the reign of Constantine I.

Anyhow, we were completely wowed by the Theatre.