Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Located in the western-central part of the Iberian Peninsula. The city was Founded as a Roman colony in 25 BC under the order of the emperor Augustus to serve as a retreat for the veteran soldiers, it was one of the most important in Roman Hispania and was endowed with all the comforts of a large Roman city and served as capital of the Roman province of Lusitania since its founding and as the capital of the entire Diocese of Hispania during the Fourth Century.