THE BASILICA OF SAINT EULALIA (MÉRIDA, SPAIN)

The church of Saint Eulalia belongs to the category of martyral churches and belongs to the oldest known in the Iberian Peninsula. It still is in a remarkable state of preservation. In the mid-5^th century, it was built over an early Christian necropolis linked to the memory of Eulalia and a contemporary funerary crypt. 

Today, however, the monument shows only a few traces of its Late Antique state. In a second phase, around the years 560 and 570, the side apses were rebuilt and topped with two towers. This is of interest in the context of the project to restore late-period monuments; it is representative of a type of Christian cult building in the process of being established, featuring a tripartite nave, the chancel-choir-apse sequence, these famous towers and a porch on the façade. The masonry uses reused granite ashlar from abandoned and dismantled buildings. Finally, after being abandoned during the Muslim period, the basilica was rebuilt in its current state in the 13th century.