The National Museum of Roman Art is the indispensable indoor partner to Mérida's open-air ruins. Rafael Moneo's 1986 building is itself a statement — pale brick raised in monumental Roman arches, columns of stairs and galleries running through the central nave, the whole interior bathed in the kind of slow side-light that suits Roman marble. Moneo won the Pritzker for this and a handful of other works.
The collection is one of the most important Roman archaeological holdings in the world outside Italy. Mosaics line the upper galleries, including the spectacular Cosmological Mosaic with personifications of the natural elements. The ground floor holds the original statuary from the theatre's niches and a long line of sarcophagi and inscriptions. Allow two hours; combine with the theatre and amphitheatre, which are directly across the road.