Editing Mérida, Spain (section)

==History==

''[[Augusta Emerita]]'' was founded as a Roman colony in 25 BC under the order of the emperor [[Augustus]] to serve as a retreat for the veteran soldiers (emeritus) of the legions [[Legio V Alaudae|V Alaudae]] and [[Legio X Gemina|X Gemina]]. The city, one of the most important in Roman [[Hispania]], was endowed with all the comforts of a large Roman city and served as capital of the Roman province of Lusitania since its founding and as the capital of the entire Diocese of Hispania during the Fourth Century. 

Following the [[Timeline_of_Germanic_kingdoms_in_the_Iberian_Peninsula|invasion of Iberia]] in 409, by an alliance of tribes migrating from Central Europe – the [[Vandals]], [[Alans]] and [[Suebi]] – Augusta Emerita became capital of the short-lived Kingdom of the Alans, under King [[Attaces]]. His premature death, in 418, in battle with the [[Visigoths]], led to the area's absorption by the neighbouring Vandal state. In 469, Mérida was captured by the Visigoths and Mérida became an important city of the [[Visigothic Kingdom|Gothic Kingdom]]. 

In 713, the city was conquered by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], and remained under Muslim rule. The [[Mozarabs|Mozarabic people ]]of the island rebelled repeatedly against the Caliphate authorities in the 9th century and the city began a slow decline. After the [[Almohads|Almohad rule]], Mérida, that had acknowledged [[Ibn Hud]] against the former, was seized by [[Alfonso IX of León]] in 1230. 

It is, together with Badajoz, ecclesiastically the metropolitan seat of the [[Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz]]. It became the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura in 1983. The archeological site in the city has been a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] since 1993.  

The current Mayor (since 2015) is [[Antonio Rodríguez Osuna]], from the [[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party]].