Chester is an ancient city and was known as Deva before the Romans came over two thousand years ago. (Deva is now the name of one of Chester's outlying districts) The Romans named the city Chester which is the Roman word for Fort. (It is easy to see where the main Roman strongholds (Forts) were in Britain, look for Chester in the names eg. Manchester, Colchester, Rochester) The Roman's built the first stone city walls, remains of which can still be seen in some places. You can walk almost right around the city on the walls but most of these walls have been built or rebuilt since Roman times but most are still many hundreds of years old and you haven't visited Chester unless you have walked the walls. There are also the remains of an amphitheatre as well as other Roman sights in the city. Chester horse racing course was originally built for Roman Chariot racing and is Britain's oldest and smallest (professional) race course, this doesn't stop it from hosting some of the countries biggest (in prize money) races with some of the worlds top flat racing horses and jockey's competing. The river Dee runs through the city before passing between Wales and the Wirral and out to sea. You can go for a cruise on the river or if you prefer sit and have a beer in the many pubs at the rivers edge watching the boats go by. The city itself is a beautiful place with a complete mix of architecture from all of the ages of Britain and is always very lively and full of tourists from all over the world. There is a market and shopping centers (shopping Malls) as well as the hundreds of shops that are on two, often three levels in the ancient buildings selling everything from tourist souvenirs to high fashion. Chester Cathedral can be traced back to the time of the Saxon Minster, which in ad. 907 housed the remains of St Werburgh. In the 10th century a Benedictine Abbey was built on this ground and is a foundation for the Cathedral that was founded by Henry VIII in 1541 a must for all visitors.