Ancient Greek and Roman Art and Architecture

The "Puente de Alcántara" is considered the most important surviving Roman bridge structure. The bridge stretches 194 meters in length with six arches of different widths. Its 8-meter-wide roadway is approximately 50 meters above the Tajo River, and the total height of the structure is 71 meters. Towards the middle of the bridge, there is a 14-meter-high honorary arch dedicated to Emperor Trajan. The road bridge, which is still in use today, was built in about five years during the time of Emperor Trajan. It was probably completed in 105 or 106 AD. The small temple next to the bridge is one of only two fully preserved Roman temples on the Iberian Peninsula. It contains the tomb of the bridge's builder, Caius Iulius Lacer, probably a Roman military engineer. The Romans already recognized Lacer's genius. Inside there is a stone tablet with the inscription: "Pontem perpetui mansurum in saecula mundi fecit divina nobilis arte Lacer" The bridge to stay forever in the centuries of the eternal course of the world, the praiseworthy Lacer created with divine art...

With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Badajoz is the most populous municipality and the largest economic center in Extremadura. The city was founded around 875 by Ibn Marwan. Under his successors, was the capital of an emirate that encompassed the Spanish Extremadura and, in the 11th century, almost all of Portugal. In 1094 the city was conquered by the Almoravids.It was conquered in 1230 by Alfonso IX. and permanently taken from the Moors by León. The Museo Arqueológico Provincial was founded in 1867. Its headquarters are located on the site of the "Islamic citadel" in the highest part of Badajoz. Roman mosaic The human plays the harp and all the animals are listening to the music.

With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Badajoz is the most populous municipality and the largest economic center in Extremadura. The city was founded around 875 by Ibn Marwan. Under his successors, was the capital of an emirate that encompassed the Spanish Extremadura and, in the 11th century, almost all of Portugal. In 1094 the city was conquered by the Almoravids.It was conquered in 1230 by Alfonso IX. and permanently taken from the Moors by León. The Museo Arqueológico Provincial was founded in 1867. Its headquarters are located on the site of the "Islamic citadel" in the highest part of Badajoz. Sculpture of Juno Roman, 2nd century AD

The Romans conquered the place in 57 BC. BC and expanded it into a walled city. The city gained importance because it was at the intersection of several important transport routes. During the barbarian invasions, Évora came under the rule of the Visigothic king Leovigild in 584. In 715, the city was conquered by the Moors. During the Moorish rule (715–1165), the town slowly began to prosper again and developed into an agricultural center with a fortress and a mosque. Évora was wrested from the Moors through an attack by Geraldo Sem Pavor ("Gerald the Fearless") in 1165. The town came under the rule of the Portuguese king Afonso I in 1166. It then flourished during the Middle Ages, especially in the 15th century. The temple is believed to have been constructed around the first century CE in honor of Augustus. The temple was destroyed during the 5th century by invading Germanic peoples. In 1467, King Afonso V of Portugal authorized Soeiro Mendes to remove stones from the structure for building purposes and defense. The ruins of the temple were incorporated into a tower of the Castle of Évora during the Middle Ages. The base, columns and architraves of the temple were kept embedded in the walls of the medieval building. The temple-turned-tower was used as a butcher shop from the 14th century until 1836. The first reconstitution of the temple's appearance occurred in 1789. In 1840, Cunha Rivara obtained the right to dispose of the buildings annexed to the monument. These structures were demolished, and the first great archaeological excavation was undertaken.

The Roman tunnel of Boca do Monte was built in the 2nd century by order of Emperor Trajan to divert the course of the River Sil and extract the gold deposited in the meanders of the old course of the river. It is dug in slate and was 120 metres long until 1934, but a flood of the River Sil in that year caused a large part of the tunnel to collapse, giving it its current dimensions: 54 metres long, 19 metres wide and an average height of 17 metres.

Las Médulas is a historic gold-mining site. that was the most important gold mine, as well as the largest open-pit gold mine in the entire Roman Empire. The spectacular landscape of Las Médulas resulted from the "ruina montium" (wrecking of the mountains), a Roman mining technique described by Pliny the Elder. The technique employed was a type of hydraulic mining which involved undermining a mountain with large quantities of water. In order to bring the required quantities of water from the Sierra de la Cabrera, a canal system over 100 kilometres long was built. Parts of this system are still preserved today. Large-scale production did not begin until the second half of the 1st century AD. Pliny the Elder, who was a procurator in the region in 74 AD, described the technique of hydraulic mining: "What happens is far beyond the work of giants. The mountains are bored with corridors and galleries made by lamplight with a duration that is used to measure the shifts. For months, the miners cannot see the sunlight and many of them die inside the tunnels. This type of mine has been given the name of ruina montium. The cracks made in the entrails of the stone are so dangerous that it would be easier to find purpurine or pearls at the bottom of the sea than make scars in the rock. How dangerous we have made the Earth!" Opencast methods would be pursued by fire-setting, which involved building fires against the rock and quenching with water. The weakened rock could then be attacked mechanically and the debris swept away by waves of water. Pliny also stated that 20,000 Roman pounds (6,560 kg) of gold were extracted each year. The exploitation, involving 60,000 workers, brought 5,000,000 Roman pounds (1,640,000 kg) in 250 years.