The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-05-20
in THE ROME OF SPAIN
FOUNDED ID. G., ~, AND ONCE KNOWN
AS sEMERITA AUGUSTA.
Rich In Remarkable Relics OF Roman
Days-Easy Journey Through
Esframadura Province.


MERIDA, Spain, April SIT seemed
hare-brained undertaking-thi wide detour
from customary travel across Estrama-
dura's dusty and desolate plains to the
very border OF Portugal-but we have
found ample recompense In merely walking
the streets Of city whose foundations
were laid a quarter OF century before
Christ was born. Though this remote and
forgotten town cuts figure I'm modern
history, Spanards cherish it. with pardon
able pride. as the Rome OF the PENN
sula.'' for IT contains more relics of the
early Romans than even the Eternal City
of Italy. Indeed. the whole province of
Estramadura, poverty-stricken as it now
appears. is richer in monuments of antiq-
uity than any other equal area on the face
OF the globe.
Before coming this way II will be well TO
freshen your memory a bit on classical
history. The Merida OF to-day is the self
same Roman capital OF Lusitania, which
Legate Pubiius Carisius built b. c. % and
christened Emerita. Augusta. Its magnif-
cence continued undiminished down to the
fourth century after Christ Thirty-six
different Roman coins were struck here.
which are now among the rarest and most
valuable In the world, existing only in the
cabinets of wealthy collectors. Most of
the worn discs of silver and copper for
which fabulous prices are paid bear the
ancient arms OF the city, which are still
the arms of Merida turreted gate, with
the inscription Augusta Emerita- Pruden-
titus described the splerdors Of this old
capital in stately measure in his hymn on
the death OF its patroness, Eulalia. who
by the way. is not to be COMPOUNDED with
her namesake, the tutelar of Barcelona,
nor yet with the blonde-haired member of
SPANS royal family who visited us a few
years ago. Merida's Eulalia was born
here a d. 292. and was of the earliest
female martyrs in Spain. History is silent
as to the cause of her martyrdom and the
fortunes by which she died. Though only
twelve years old when put to death, she
performed miracles in after centuries
worthy of any grown-up saint San Isl
doro relates that, in the year 491, she saved
the city from being plundered by Theodore
Gus. the Goth. by threatening him with
the punishment that Ceres visited upon
Alexander's troops at Miietus.
HISTORIC RELICS.
The sights OF Merida are many and of
surprising interest to the archaeologist
Most of them were projected during the
happy reign Of Trajan-that enlightened
prince who loved TO beautify and ennoble
the land OF his birth. The walls Of the
city. once twenty miles in circumference.
antedate Trajan's day, and so does one Of
the bridges-that crossing the Guidiana.
whose right bank rises Merida. 1t is about
half mile long. with eighty-one arches.
thirty feet broad and thirty-five feet above
the water Being so long and fat, Ii has
the appearance of causeway, gray and
solemn, yet stately in its decay. 1t would
be hazardous to attempt a crossing now;
yet you venture out a considerable distance
upon the crumbling MISUNDERSTANDING of
the countless multitudes that have passed
to and fro since its completion in the first
century-until the broken footway, with
the deep, still river far below, gives you
sensations which are likely to haunt your
dreams unpleasantly for nights to come.
The other ancient bridge spans a smaller
stream on the opposite side Of the city and
Is a worthy monument to Trajan. its build
er. 1t was repaired in the year Csc by one
of the Gothic dukes Of Toledo and again In
1910 by Philip III, as All inscription on its
portico announces. A thousand traditions,
romantic and historic. cling to these old,
old bridges. In 1908 a gallant band of
Frenchmen. only eight hundred strong,
kept the whole Spanish army at bay for a
month by holding the oldest bridge, al
though the river is fordable at that point.
-Four years later. during the siege of Bada-
joz several arches of the other bridge were
purposely destroyed, in order to impede
Marmont's advance. They were afterwards
replaced, to match the structure as nearly
as possible. of solid granite with DOSAGE
work. ''pillowed," or almohadilado. as the
Spaniards say. On an island in the Gudi-
ana, little way up stream. is a Roman
dyke. known as El Tajamar. built of mas
sive masonry and intended TO protect the
arches of the bridge below from inunda-
tons. The dyke may have been effective
in its prime. but every recent inundat.on
caused by melting SHOWS of the mountains
swelling the river has wrought irreparable
damage TO the tottering structure, which
must soon disappear altogether.
To the right of Trajan's bridge Is castle
built by the Romans and added to by the
Moors. In later years IL served as palace
for the bishops of Merida and afterwards 1t
was occupied by the knights Templars-
whence came its present name, "El Con-
ventual." At the suppression of the Tenn
plars in Spain the castle was granted to the
Catholic Order of Santiago. whose provisor
made it his residence Little is left of 1t.
except a splendid court of granite pillars.
the vestiges of a temple, a square tank that
once served in some mystic rite and a Sc
ries of ancient baths-the rest of the great
pile having been Quilted by the French.
THE MOCRS COME IN.
tall. gaunt gateway, standing by itself
near the river, looks old as the oldest
monument in existence. but is evidently of
comparatively recent origin. its marble
tablet bears Arabic inscription. The tri-
umphal arch Of Trajan. forty-four feet
high-though now mere shell, having
been stripped Of it's marble casing by the
fnvaders-towers imposingly in a dingy
back street. dwarfing by its sweep of pro-
digious blocks the modern buildings that
surround IL. Majestic even in its naked
simplicity. ii must have been magnificent
when covered with costly marbles. adorned
with has reliefs and surmounted by a CO.
lossal statue OF the Emperor. The Roman