Roman Chester for kids and families

Days out the kids will love

• A Roman soldier tour. A guide in full armour marches you round the city. See Roman tours compared.
• The Deva Roman Experience. A Roman street to walk through and objects to handle. Perfect for a wet day.
• The amphitheatre. Free, open in daylight, and a great place for a picnic and a pretend gladiator fight.
• The Grosvenor Museum. Real Roman gravestones with carved soldiers and horses. Free.
• The city walls. Two miles of traffic-free walking, with towers to spot and a clock to wave at.

Ten Roman facts for kids

1. The Romans called Chester Deva, after the River Dee.
2. About 5,000 soldiers lived in the fortress. They belonged to the Twentieth Legion, and their badge was a boar.
3. Eight soldiers shared a pair of small rooms, a cooking pot and a mule.
4. Soldiers wore sandals called caligae with iron nails in the soles, so they wouldn't slip.
5. Chester's amphitheatre is the biggest Roman military amphitheatre found in Britain. Between 7,000 and 12,000 people could watch the shows.
6. Inside the arena was a tiny shrine to Nemesis, the goddess of fate. Fighters may have prayed there.
7. The Romans had central heating! A fire under the floor, called a hypocaust, heated the baths.
8. The fortress baths may have used 850,000 litres of water a day: about a third of an Olympic swimming pool.
9. Roman soldiers' gravestones were built into the city walls, and found again by Victorian workmen in the 1880s.
10. Across the river, a goddess called Minerva has been carved into a rock for about 1,900 years.

Roman Chester quiz

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Tips for parents

• The walls have steps at every gate. With a pushchair, use the ramps near Newgate or stay at street level.
• The amphitheatre has sheer drops round the arena: keep little ones close.
• The Deva Roman Experience uses loud noises, strobe and water effects; check if your child is sensitive.
• The Grosvenor Museum is closed on Mondays.