Trajan’s Arch

If you were living in Augusta Emerita in Roman times, you'd have passed through the arch in front of you to reach the temple dedicated to the imperial cult, a new form of religion that treated emperors and certain members of their families as gods. Today, we call it Trajan’s Arch, but there’s no evidence linking it to Emperor Trajan. What we do know is that it was built during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, in the early part of the 1st century. The arch stands about 15 metres tall, though its two-metre deep foundations are now buried beneath the modern pavement. Back then, the massive granite blocks you see here would’ve been covered in marble, giving the space a more refined and majestic appearance. You can spot small holes in the stone, which were used to anchor the marble cladding. The arch also had two side entrances, though they’re no longer visible. Since the marble covering, inscriptions, and decorative details are long gone, it’s tough to pin down an exact date or fully understand its function. Based on the city’s layout, we know it was built along the Cardo Maximus, one of the two main streets in any Roman city, running north to south. If you look to the right at the foot of the arch, you can still see some of the original Roman paving stones. Trajan’s Arch was declared a cultural heritage site back in 1912 and became part of the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1993, along with the rest of Merida’s extraordinary Roman monuments.