Temple of Diana — A Roman Temple That Became a Palace
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
This first-century temple belonged to Mérida’s municipal forum. The name “Temple of Diana” is traditional rather than a secure identification of the deity worshipped here. Archaeology instead points to an official civic cult building.
Its unusual survival has a practical reason: in the Renaissance, the palace of the Counts of Corbos was built into the Roman structure. Columns and podium became useful architectural fabric instead of abandoned stone to quarry away.
That makes the monument a good antidote to the idea of clean historical layers. Preservation often happens because later people reuse a building for reasons entirely different from those of its original builders.