 Mérida has been nicknamed "The White City" ("La Ciudad Blanca"), though the exact origin of this moniker is not clear.Some explanations include the common color of its old buildings painted and decorated with "cal" or the fact that the residents keep the city particularly clean.Mérida was named after the Spanish town of the same name, originally (in Latin) "Augústa Emérita" (see Mérida, Spain).