Roman villa of Araya

Three neighbouring sectors of the villa survive, which probably belonged to a single large complex: a semicircular wall (possibly closing an apsidal room), two adjoining rooms built of granite ashlar and rubble masonry lined inside with opus signinum, and the start of a large western wall. The presence of opus signinum points to a bathing or display function in the pars urbana.

North-east of the site stands the Roman dam of Araya, the original wall tied to the villa's water supply, still in use as a pond wall. North of the complex, during works on the Mérida-Montijo road, an important cemetery was found with more than 125 cremation graves with grave goods and libation tubes, dated to the 3rd century AD, which strengthens the reading of the whole as a large farming estate.

The villa would have stood on the branch of the Via Augusta linking Emerita with Olisipo (Lisbon). The site has been on Hispania Nostra's Red List of Heritage since 2014 because of neglect, lack of legal protection and progressive decay. (Location approximate.)