Week 3 by Jason Johnson

Revealed

In the last week we went to Merida Spain, and another museum called palacio de los golfines that is located in Caceres. The city of Merida actually preserves more Roman monuments than any other city in Spain at this time. The above picture is of the Roman theatre that was dug up around 1910 (the stage itself). What’s even more impressive about it; is that it is the most well preserved Roman theatre in existence. The reason it is so well preserved is because it was buried for hundreds of years. Merida also has a Roman arch that is over 2000 years old that is in very good condition. Of course describing Merida would not be complete without mentioning the Roman bridge (Puente Romano) which is the longest Roman bridge still in existence. Merida is impressive as a city to say the least. I don’t think anyone can appreciate the monumental archeological places in Merida without having seen them in person. We learned that the theatre is one of the first instances of sound manipulation because the stands in the theatre surround the stage in the shape of a cone. The reason given to us for this was for sound reproduction. Obviously the Romans did not have microphones or amplifiers hundreds of years ago, but apparently they were able to make out pretty well.    

In fact because we saw so many features of roman architecture I almost forgot about the Acueducto de los Milagros…which is the aqueduct of Merida which was one of the first things we saw when we arrived in Merida and it stands about 80 feet tall. Because of the impressive nature of these monuments I think we were all able to learn more about the ancient cultures that have influenced Spain today. All of these monuments are impressive to read about, but you cant appreciate the impact of them until you are up close.