Temples, ruins and oysters

Colchester had three amphitheatres, one of which seated five thousand people. There is still no theatrical institution of such a capacity in Britain. And Colchester United Football Club's stadium has a similar number of seats.
The ruins of the amphitheatre are still standing; if you have an imagination you can imagine the smart crowd gathered to watch a fashionable play by Plautus, the smell of freshly baked bread which was immediately distributed to the commoners. The people of Colchester had all the rights of Roman citizens, and among the rights, apart from freedom, the most important were the rights to bread and spectacles.

There is more Roman in Colchester than anywhere else in Britain. The road system, the town layout - everything is preserved from the time of Emperor Claudius. Even the British military garrison is located on the site of the former plaza of the Twelfth Legion, which conquered Britain for Rome.

The main Colchester landmark is Norman Castle, a typical medieval sandwich built on Celtic and Roman foundations.
The Celts worshipped some muddy forest gods of their own on this site; the Romans erected a temple of metropolitan pathos in honour of the deified Emperor Claudius. It is said that the temple was of such a size that it could accommodate almost the entire adult population of the city. This is likely to have been the case and then played a cruel joke on the population of Colchester. During the rebellion of the legendary British queen Baudica, the people of Colchester tried to hide from the barbarian darts and swords in the temple. But Baucica was not embarrassed by Claudius' sign of divinity, she ordered the temple to be lined with firewood and set on fire. She did the same, however, with the rest of the buildings in the city, and then also with London.

Colchester was rebuilt, the 12th Legion re-established ranks of marching tents, but apparently the energy was gone from the city. Because the capital's functions were taken over by a similarly rebuilt London.
The Norman castle is now a museum, where you can dress up in Viking cloaks and look at the remains of material diversity from pots and swords, but the most interesting thing there is a tour into the castle grounds, into the tunnels and vaults left by the Romans.

Another important attraction is the preserved rather large fragments of the fortress wall and gate built by the Romans. It is the first place on the island where ochre-coloured English clay bricks were used, the main thing that the conquerors left behind for future generations of Britons.

Colchester has not only the stones but also an important behavioural trait left by the Romans. Colchester is no longer an administrative capital, and even in a thousand years it has never achieved city status, but it is the undisputed British oyster capital.
The Romans taught the British to eat oysters and the bays to the north-east of Colchester offer ideal conditions for oyster life.
Of course, you can sample Colchester oysters in London, and there are plenty of oyster spots in Colchester. But it's better to drive to the coast and get it all right at the place of origin, inhaling the scent of the tide.