A gorgeous UK city has been found to have the most beautiful buildings in the world, and it’s not London. Even more fascinating is the fact that this isn’t the result of an objective study, but by applying a mathematical formula – meaning it is indeed fact that Chester is home to the most attractive architecture around the globe.
The analysis was carried out by Online Mortgage Advisor, who compared buildings in major cities around the world to the ‘golden ratio’, a mathematical ratio (1:1.618) that has been associated with beauty and ‘aesthetic perfectness’ for hundreds of years. The golden ratio quite often appears in nature; in flowers or DNA, for example.
In pursuit of the most beautiful buildings, they analysed 450 streets and over 2,400 buildings in 45 historical cities, all famed for their fantastic architecture. The most iconic buildings were tested against the ‘golden ratio’ using a special software, as well as scanning Google Street View to assess the golden ratio proportions of ‘regular’ buildings on residential streets. Each city was then assigned a beauty score, which represented each city’s average percentage match to the golden ratio.
In the end, pipping some famously beautiful cities to the post, the English city of Chester was crowned the very best, with a beauty score of 83.7%. Right behind it in the UK rankings is London with a score of 83.0%, closely followed by Belfast with 82.9%. Chester also tops the global rankings, with Venice next in line with a score of 83.3%. Rome, Barcelona, Prague and New York are next in the list.
The ancient, northwestern city of Chester is known for its extensive Roman walls made of red sandstone, a centuries-old Cathedral, and for having the largest Roman Amphitheatre in Britain. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a place that’s bursting with history. It’s where Romans settled and marched to war, Vikings invaded, and, after the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester defended against Welsh raiders.
But as well as being shrouded in history, we’ve established that Chester is pretty nice to look at, too. The city is also famous for its black and white buildings, which may well have contributed to its success in these findings. These iconic buildings include ‘the Rows’, which are now home to some lovely shopping galleries that are well worth a visit.
So there you have it, a surprising winner of the ‘Most Beautiful Buildings in the World’ award. And all it takes is a two-hour train from London Euston, and you could be exploring these historic streets and gawping at some aesthetically perfect construction work yourself.