The Flying Lectern

Sounds like a good name for a pub!

This lectern sits atop a steel column rising from the excavated crypt of the basilica of Santa Eulalia in Merida, Extremadura. For the priest I imagine it is a case of "in God (and the structural engineers) we trust".

The crypt reveals 2000 years of the site's history. From its original occupation by roman houses, through roman cemetery and mausoleum, to basilica, to abandonment during the arab occupation when the Christian population were removed to Badajoz in the 9th century, to its re-building on their return in the 13th.

I love the way that the excavation has been carried out so that the crypt is visible from the 'modern' church above and vice-versa. Even within the crypt there are several layers and levels, going back in time.

Couldn't spend much time here unfortunately as we had to head off south towards Cádiz.