National Museum of Roman Art

National Museum of Roman Art
Museo Nacional de Arte Romano
	Façade of the Museum
Former name	Museo Arqueológico de Mérida
Established	26 March 1838
Location	Mérida, Spain
Coordinates	38°55′2.302″N 6°20′23.500″W / 38.91730611°N 6.33986111°W
Type	Archaeology museum
Collections	Roman art
Collection size	37,000
Visitors	239,798 (2017)
Director	Trinidad Nogales Basarrate
Architect	Rafael Moneo
Owner	General State Administration
Website	museoarteromano.mcu.es
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv
Designated	1993 (17th session)
Part of	Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida
Reference no.	664-017
Region	Europe and North America
Spanish Cultural Heritage
Type	Non-movable
Criteria	Monument
Designated	1 March 1962
Reference no.	RI-51-0001309

The National Museum of Roman Art (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Arte Romano; MNAR) is an archaeology museum in Mérida, Spain. Devoted to Roman art, it exhibits extensive material from the archaeological ensemble of Mérida (the Roman colony of Augusta Emerita), one of the largest and most extensive archaeological sites in Spain, registered as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3] The current building is a work by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.^[4] Building works started in 1981.^[4] The new premises were unveiled on 19 September 1986.^[4]