Chester
Coordinates: 53°11′25″N 2°53′30″W / 53.1903°N 2.8916°W / 53.1903; -2.8916
Chester, is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the 2001 Census. Chester was granted city status in 1541. Chester was founded as a "castrum" or Roman fort with the name
Deva Victrix in the year 79 by the Roman Legio II Adiutrix during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian. Chester's four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge, follow routes laid out at this time – almost 2,000 years ago. One of the three main Roman army camps, Deva later became a major settlement in the Roman province of Britannia. The Roman Empire fell three hundred years later, and the Romano-British established a number of petty kingdoms in its place. Chester is thought to have been part of Powys at this time.