Chester is a city located close to Wales in the area south of Liverpool. The city was founded by the Romans around the year 70 with the name Deva Victrix, and the city was one of the most important in Roman England. After the withdrawal of the Romans, the settlement continued, and the Anglo-Saxons expanded the city walls as a defense against Vikings.

Later, the port of Chester became the country’s busiest river port and the city enjoyed great success as a trade post. However, the River Dee silted up, causing nearby Liverpool to grow. Chester flourished again in the Georgian era, and with the Industrial Revolution the city became home to many of the upper classes, unlike the industrial cities of Liverpool and Manchester.

Today, Chester is a very pleasant city with several sights and attractions. You can make some lovely walks in the city and Chester Cross is a good place to start. Here you are in Chester’s narrow streets, where you can see many of the so-called Chester Rows, which are black-and-white buildings that date back to the 13th century with shops and arcades on the lower floors.

Part of the city center in this quarter looks like a time warp from the Middle Ages, but not all buildings are from that time. Later, many other buildings were built with the same appearance, so they help give Chester its beautiful black and white streetscape. At Chester Cross you can also see St Peter’s Church, which was built in neo-Gothic style in 1886. And a little to the east in Eastgate Street you can see the fine Eastgate Clock from 1897.

Chester is also known for its city walls, which are among the best preserved in England. They were originally built by the Romans around the Deva Victrix, and later the Normans expanded them around the medieval city. The walls can still be seen almost all the way around the city center. Water Tower Street is one of the best places to see the walls, as one of the city’s canals lies immediately north of it.

You can follow the walls from here, and you cross Eastgade Street at the eastern city gate, and if you continue south-east, you come to Newgate city gate. Immediately to the east of here you can see the excavated remains of Chester’s Roman amphitheater, built in the first century AD.

Chester Cathedral is also worth seeing. It is a Norman church that was built as a chapel for the Benedictine monastery of St. Werburgh. The large church has, however, been continuously remodeled and expanded over the centuries after the Normans. The current cathedral mainly dates from the 13th-16th centuries, and the interior is large and impressive to enter.

Here you can explore various stylistic features from the Gothic period and see some fine stained-glass windows from the 1800s and 1900s. The area and buildings around the cozy courtyard of the monastery are the oldest in the complex around the cathedral, and the 1900s tower is the newest.