Temple of Diana

The Temple of Diana, in Mérida

The Temple of Diana is the only Roman temple of Mérida to have come down to us almost intact, standing in the heart of the former forum of the town. The Mérida audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this building of the first century, in reality dedicated to the imperial cult, whose high granite columns testify to the majesty of the ancient Augusta Emerita.

The temple of the forum with high columns

What is quite crazy with Mérida is that you constantly come face to face with fabulous vestiges of Antiquity while strolling in the streets. Here, you are in the very heart of the former Roman forum, there where the most important buildings of the town were, in front of the Temple of Diana. It is on the forum that public life took place: justice was administered there, commerce was practised there, the affairs of the town were debated there, and a cult was rendered to the gods there. A public gallery stretched in front of the temple, from where the authorities addressed the people. Built in the first century of our era, this temple is the only Roman religious building of Mérida to have come down almost intact to the twenty-first century. In reality, despite its traditional name of Temple of Diana, inherited from an old error of identification, it was not dedicated to the goddess of the hunt, but to the imperial cult, that is to say to the veneration of the emperor and of Rome. It presents itself in the form of a classical temple, surrounded by high fluted granite columns, still in place, on a high podium. A surprising fact, in the sixteenth century, a Renaissance palace was built inside the temple itself, reusing its columns; the two constructions, ancient and modern, mingle there today in a striking way. The heart of the forum and the only preserved temple, the Temple of Diana is a fine stop of the discovery of Mérida.

What to see

Here you discover the only Roman temple of Mérida to have come down almost intact, standing in the heart of the former forum, built in the first century and in reality dedicated to the imperial cult despite its traditional name of Temple of Diana; surrounded by high fluted granite columns on a podium, it shelters within it a Renaissance palace of the sixteenth century, mingling in a striking way the ancient and the modern. The Temple of Diana is a Roman jewel of Mérida. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Temple of Diana lies in the heart of the historic centre of Mérida, on the location of the former forum, reachable on foot. It is an open-air monument, freely accessible and visible from the street. You discover it during a walk in the monumental centre.

To which god was the Temple of Diana dedicated in Mérida?

Despite its traditional name, inherited from an old error of identification, it was not dedicated to the goddess Diana but to the imperial cult, that is to say to the veneration of the emperor and of Rome; built in the first century in the heart of the forum, it is the only Roman temple of Mérida to have come down almost intact, surrounded by high granite columns, and it shelters a Renaissance palace.

Where is the Temple of Diana in Mérida?

In the heart of the historic centre of Mérida, on the location of the former forum, in Spain.