Mere

Mere, a Wiltshire town, 21 miles S. by E. of Bath. Pop. of parish, 2749.

Mergul

Mergul, a seaport of Burma, on an island in the Tenasserim River, 2 miles from its mouth. Pop. 8633. - The Mergui Archipelago is a group of mountainous, sparsely inhabited islands in the Bay of Bengal, lying off Burma.

Merida

Mer'ida (anc. Augusta Emerita), a decayed town of Spain, on the Guadiana's right bank, 36 miles by rail E. of Badajoz. Its Roman remains include Trajan's bridge of 81 arches, 2575 feet long ; the ruins of half-a-dozen temples, an aqueduct, a circus, the Arch of Santiago, 44 feet high, etc. There is also an old Moorish palace. Merida was built in 23 B.C., and flourished as the capital of Lusitania. Pop. 9159.

Merida

Merida, (1) capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan, 25 miles S. of the Gulf of Mexico, and 95 miles NE. of Campeachy. Founded by the Spaniards in 1542, it has a cathedral, a university, etc. Pop. 37,000. - (2) A town of Venezuela, lies 5290 feet above sea-level, and 70 miles S. of the lake of Maracaybo. Founded in 1558, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812, and again in 1894. It has a cathedral, a university, and woollen and cotton manufactures. Pop. 11,750.

Meriden

Meriden, a city of Connecticut, 19 miles by rail N. by E. of New Haven, with manufactures of metal wares, cutlery, firearms, woollens, etc. Pop. (1880) 15,540 ; (1900) 24,296.

Meridian

Meridian, capital of Lauderdale county, Mississippi, 135 miles by rail N. by W. of Mobile, has manufactures of iron, cotton, blinds, furniture, etc. Pop. 15,000.

Meroe

Meroe. See Ethiopia.

Merom

Merom, Waters of. See Jordan.

Merrimac

Merrimac, a river rising among the White Mountains of New Hampshire, flowing south into Massachusetts, and falling into the Atlantic near Newburyport, after a course of 150 miles. It has numerous falls, affording immense water-power. It is navigable to Haverhill.

Merse

Merse. See Berwickshire.

Merseburg

Merseburg (Mer'seh-boorg), a town of Prussian Saxony, on the Saale, 8 miles S. of Halle. Its Domkirche is a four-towered pile, with Romanesque choir (1042), transept (c. 1274), and 16th-century nave - the whole restored in 1884-86. The organ (1666) has 4000 pipes. The picturesque 15th-century castle was once the bishop's palace, and afterwards (1656-1738) the residence of the dukes of Sachsen-Merseburg. Beer, iron, paper, etc. are manufactured. Pop. 19,828.

Merton

Merton, Lower, a Surrey parish, on the Wandle, 10 miles SW. of London by rail. Only a fragment remains of the Augustinian priory (1115) where the parliament met which passed, in 1235, the Statute of Merton. Here were educated Thomas Becket and Walter de Merton, Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor, who in 1264 founded Merton College, Oxford. Pop. 4360.

Mesagna

Mesagna (Mezan'ya), a town in southern Italy, 12 miles SW. of Brindisi. Pop. 9601.

Meshhed

Meshhed ('place of martyrdom'), the principal city of north-east Persia, the capital of Khorassan, on a tributary of the Hari-Rud, 460 miles E. by N. of Teheran and 200 NW. of Herat. Above the walls shine the gilded dome and minarets of one of the most splendid mosques of the East, that of Imam Riza. Meshhed is the sacred city of the Shiites, and is held in as much veneration by them as Mecca is by the Sunnite Moslems ; it is visited yearly by almost 100,000 pilgrims. The people make excellent felt-rugs, carpets, swords, turquoise jewellery, velvet, and cotton and silk goods. The Transcaspian Railway has given Russia the predominance in trade. Owing to its elevated situation (3055 feet), the city has a cold climate in winter. Close by are the ruins of Tus, the old capital of Khorassan, where Firdausi, Haroun-al-Raschid and the Imam Riza were buried. Pop. 50,000.