Rome built it, the Normans walled it — England's most complete Roman city
Chester is the best-preserved Roman walled city in Britain, with 2km of intact red sandstone walls you can walk entirely, a Roman amphitheatre (the largest found in Britain), and the 'Rows' — a unique two-level medieval gallery shopping street found nowhere else in the world. The black-and-white timber-framed buildings give it a chocolate-box appearance that hides genuine Roman and Norman archaeology at every turn.
Founded as the Roman legionary fortress Deva Victrix in 79 CE to police the Welsh border and supply campaigns into northern Britain, Chester became one of Rome's most strategic outposts. After the Roman withdrawal it remained important as a Saxon and then Norman stronghold — the Normans built the castle immediately after the Conquest to control Wales, and Edward I used it as the base for his Welsh campaigns. The walls the Romans built were continuously maintained and are still walkable in their entirety.