National Museum of Roman Art

The National Museum of Roman Art is an archaeology museum in Mérida, Spain. Devoted to Roman art, it exhibits extensive material from the archaeological ensemble of Mérida, one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain, registered as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. It is one of the National Museums of Spain and it is attached to the Ministry of Culture. History An archaeology museum in Mérida was created for the first time through a royal order issued on 26 March 1838. A church building was repurposed to house the collections as part of the Ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal. In 1975, on the occasion of the two thousandth anniversary of the city's foundation, the museum was refounded as the National Museum of Roman Art. The current building is a work by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo. Building works started in 1981. [ 3.