CHESTER, England - It is a freezing gray day in Chester and Sheila is so bundled up she look as if she's wearing a burqa. But no one is looking at her anyway. It's her companions who are causing all the heavy breathing. Wearing gear that weighs close to 50 pounds - a horsehair-crested helmet, a plaid British wool tunic, full armor that looks like metal fish scales, plus a sword and dagger, they look as if they stepped out of a history book on Roman Chester. And they have good legs!

Meet Ocratii Maxims Gittus, a Spanish centurion from southwest Spain who served with the XX Valeria Victrix legion from A.D. 100 to 150 and his companion Caius Nepos, an optio, second in command to the centurion. We will spend the next 90 minutes touring with them, as they "take history off the page and breathe life into it." They are two of the guides from Roman Tours, a company that thrills tourists and educates school kids (30,000 to date) about Chester's Roman roots.

Each of the guides has researched the character he represents down to the tools carried in his satchel. Ocratii (in real life Paul Marston, owner and director) is carrying a bevy of sophisticated medical instruments - scalpels, arrow puller, arterial clamp, tooth extractor and cataract needle set, which Marston says explains why 70 percent of soldiers were so healthy and capable of surviving countless battles during their required 25 years of service. Second in command to the centurion, the optio performed administrative and bookkeeping tasks.

To unearth the hidden Chester, the tour takes you in and out of shop cellars that line the Rows, two tiers of stores that frame the main streets. In the basement of Spud-you-Like (39 Bridge St.) you can see the remains of part of a Roman spa or bathhouse. Down a small side street between Coffee Republic (33 Northgate St.) and the Dublin Packet Public House (27 Northgate St.), you can look through an observation window at what was once the Roman strong room where the legion's valuables and soldiers' pay were safeguarded. A legionnaire was paid the equivalent of 18,000 English pounds for 25 years of service, half of which was kept in reserve as a pension in order to ensure both good behavior and loyal service.

Opposite the Chester Visitor Centre on Vicar's Lane is one of the best-preserved examples of Roman architecture: the amphitheater. Here you can see the lower parts of the arena wall and doorways of the north and remodeled eastern entrances.

GROSVENOR MUSEUM

Tie it all together with a visit to the Webster Roman Stones Gallery in the Grosvenor Museum, the repository of the largest collection of Roman tombstones from a single British site. Both the centurion's and the optio's tombstones are here, as well as a fine reconstruction of an optio's living quarters.

Chester is a fascinating example of a city that builds its present on the foundations of its past.

CHESTER CATHEDRAL

The only cathedral in England built originally as a monastery, Chester Cathedral is the quintessential example of religious recycling. A living textbook on architectural styles, here you can see examples of Roman, Saxon, Norman, Gothic, Victorian and Modern styles, which were introduced into the cathedral during its various remodels.

The quire stalls, used by the Benedictine monks for services, offers insight into how artisans modified architectural design to accommodate changes in usage. According to the Rule of St. Benedict, monks were required to sing the Daily Offices standing up, only sitting for the Epistle and Gradual at Mass and the Responses at Vespers. By the 12th century, out of pity for the older monks, small sitting places called misericordia (meaning pity) were attached to the underneath of the seats to allow them to rest their weary bones.

"Craftsman were quick to realize the potential of decorating these under-seat ledges, particularly as they were relatively inaccessible so apprentices could try their skills and master craftsmen could indulge their imaginations and sense of humor," says Nicholas Fry, visitors, press and publicity officer of Chester Cathedral.

The most intriguing carving is an elephant decorating one of the bench ends of the quire. The elephant is quite realistically worked until you get to its feet, which have horse hooves. There are two possible explanations for this anatomical liberty: one is that the carver had never seen an elephant and the only large four-legged animal he would have known was a horse. The other is that the carver actually was in a crowd watching an elephant being offloaded from an Indian ship, but couldn't see its feet and used his imagination instead.

IF YOU GO

Snazzy places to sleep and dine:

The Chester Grosvenor and Spa ( www.chestergrosvenor.com)

We stayed at the opulent Chester Grosvenor and Spa hotel, a North of England landmark from the 16th century that brilliantly blends striking contemporary decor with Grade II black and white half-timbered architecture. In 2007, the property won Large Hotel of the Year from Enjoy England for Excellence Awards, which dubbed it "world-class, a very, very stylish product maintained with incredible consistency." What most impressed us was staff hospitality, due no doubt to the hotel's $30,000 investment in customer care training. Despite its five-red-star rating, the Grosvenor has none of the off-putting pretentiousness of other similarly ranked properties, even though it has a Michelin-stared restaurant.

The Green Bough Hotel ( www.greenbough.co.uk)

At the other end of the size spectrum is this stylish 15-bed, four-star hotel, which won the Small Hotel of the Year 2006 given by Enjoy England Awards for Excellence. Set in what would have once been the small, intimate parlor of a Victorian house, its Olive Tree restaurant accommodates just 14 tables, guaranteeing superb service and food preparation. The table d'hote menu offers no fewer than seven courses from canapes to coffee, and took top honors at the Cheshire Life Food and Wine Awards 2006-7.

The Pastarazzi Ristorante ( www.visitchesterandcheshire.co.uk)

Combine the ambience of a Gothic, grade II-listed former bank building with traditional Italian recipes (more than 60 dishes are prepared daily) and an open kitchen where you can watch the chef at work, and the result is a very sophisticated trattoria. Everything from its very affordable lunch menu to its convenient location next to the Grosvenor Museum, just steps from the city center, makes this a great place to rest your touring-weary feet.

For more information, visit www.heritagecities.com.

Sheila Sobell and Richard N. Every are professional travel writers and photographers and members of the Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Writers Association.

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