The Rows (photo by orangeacid)

The city of Chester is a popular tourist destination, having enough historic sights, atmosphere, restaurants and entertainment venues to provide the ideal base for a weekend or even longer stay. It is located on the Chester Plain, 40 miles north-east of Manchester. Its origin dates back to the time of the Roman Empire. Today the city features an amazing 2-mile long ring of ancient Roman and later Medieval walls, surrounding an atmospheric old quarter where you will be impressed by well-preserved Tudor and Victorian architecture with its characteristic overhanging eaves, pedestrian cobblestone streets and the amazing shopping arcades, known as the Rows.

The Cathedral of Chester (photo by Dave Hamster)

The four main streets in Chester Old Town are lined by the Rows. These are unique galleried shopping arcades, supporting the upper floors of historic half-timbered houses. They extend for the first 250-300 yards along each of the four streets, representing an impressive combination of original Tudor architecture and later Victorian reconstructions in the same style. No exact evidences about the origin of the Rows are available. The earliest records mentioning the arcades date back to the last quarter of 13th century and describe the rebuilding of Chester after a huge fire. It is believed that the main reason for building the Rows was the very hard bedrock beneath the central area of the city, which didn’t permit merchants to dig their desired cellars and they construct them upwards instead. You will see the most attractive Tudor style houses on Watergate Street, although Bridge Street is even more pleasant. The intersection of the four main streets is called the Cross. From here, in a few steps along Eastgate Street you will reach the ancient city gates, crowned by the magnificent Eastgate Clock. This graceful filigree clock was created to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

The Town Hall (photo by grahamsquires)

Heading north from the Cross you will reach in a few minutes the Town Hall. It is a huge and beautiful building, made of local red and grey sandstone in neo-Gothic architectural style. The decoratively arcaded windows of the Town Hall overlook the Norman Cathedral of Chester. Its sandstone building has undergone many later reconstructions but has still preserved the original medieval plan. The ceiling in the nave is supported by colossal pillars. Its walls are decorated with splendid pre-Raphaelite mosaics, recounting scenes from the Old Testament in a style that can be described as melodramatic. The oldest part of the Cathedral, preserved almost intact from the Norman time, is northern transept. The choir area features some exquisitely carved stalls, dating back to the 14th century and lavishly decorated with beastly figures according to the popular architectural style of the time.

Chester is known for its large, two-mile long city walls, dating back mainly to the Middle Ages, although parts of them are from the Roman time. They are the most complete set of medieval and Roman fortification walls in the UK. Walking east of the Cathedral you will soon find yourself on the top of the city walls. From here you will have access to all of their towers, gates and turrets. Leave yourself at least an hour to explore the entire complex, because it has interesting stories to tell you. The north-eastern King Charles Tower was erected in the 15th century. It is named after King Charles I because he stood on it in 1645 watching the defeat of his army on Rowton Moor. The north-western Water Tower is earlier and its name shows that once it stood directly on the bank of the River Dee, but the constant silting has changed the river bed since that time. Close to the Water Tower is located the Roodee, the country's oldest racecourse. It occupies the site of a silted tidal pool where in ancient times was the river harbour, a lively part of the Roman town. Horse races can be still watched on the Roodee.

Next to the Newgate, which despite of its name is also an ancient gate through the city walls, are located the so called Roman Gardens. They have free entrance and feature a rich collection of ancient Roman stone works, displayed amidst pleasant greenery. From here, along Little St John Street, you can reach in a few footsteps to the partly excavated site of the Roman Amphitheatre. Archaeologists say that once it had the capacity of 7000 spectators but very little of it has survived until present day.