The Seven Chairs

Las Siete Sillas, in Mérida

Las Siete Sillas, the park of the seven chairs, is a fine green space on the banks of the Guadiana in Mérida, marked by a monumental sculpture of seven granite monoliths. The Mérida audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this work of the sculptor Rufino Mesa, that evokes the memory of the Roman theatre before its rediscovery, in the second town of Spain for its parks.

The seven monoliths of the memory of the theatre

Here you are in a fine green space at the edge of the Guadiana, as Mérida has the secret: know moreover that it is the second town of Spain for the surface of its parks and gardens, surpassed only by Madrid. Look at the other bank: another park faces you, the Parque de las Siete Sillas, the park of the seven chairs. This funny name comes from the sculpture that stands there, that you must see very well from where you are. These seven granite monoliths were conceived by the Spanish sculptor Rufino Mesa. They represent, symbolically, what you glimpsed of the Roman theatre before its rediscovery and its excavations at the beginning of the twentieth century. For centuries, indeed, the immense ancient theatre remained buried under the earth and the vegetation; only a few tops of tiers protruded, that the inhabitants had long nicknamed las siete sillas, the seven chairs, believing to see there the seats of seven Moorish kings. The sculptor took up this popular name, deeply anchored in the memory of the people of Mérida, for his sculpted group, as a homage to this legend and to the link of the inhabitants with their buried past. The work, set in the greenery facing the river, invites to reverie and to remembrance. With its fine view over the Guadiana and the monumental centre, the park is a place of promenade and freshness. A symbolic sculpture and a park at the edge of the river, Las Siete Sillas is a fine stop of the discovery of Mérida.

What to see

Here you discover, at the edge of the Guadiana, the park of the seven chairs and its sculpture of seven granite monoliths, work of Rufino Mesa; it takes up the popular nickname las siete sillas, given to the tops of tiers of the Roman theatre that protruded from the earth before its excavations, that the inhabitants believed to be the seats of seven Moorish kings. Las Siete Sillas is a park at the edge of the river in Mérida. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

Las Siete Sillas lies on the banks of the Guadiana, in Mérida, reachable on foot. It is a public open-air park freely accessible, embellished with lawns and the sculpture of the seven monoliths, with a fine view over the river. You discover it during a walk at the edge of the water.

Where does the name Las Siete Sillas come from in Mérida?

From the popular nickname given to the tops of tiers of the Roman theatre that protruded from the earth before its excavations, that the inhabitants believed to be the seats of seven Moorish kings; the sculptor Rufino Mesa took up this name for his sculpture of seven granite monoliths, set in a park at the edge of the Guadiana, in homage to the memory of the buried theatre.

Where is Las Siete Sillas in Mérida?

On the banks of the Guadiana, in Mérida, in Spain.