Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, with the city's economy heavily reliant upon tourism, alongside higher education and retail.

The site of the city has been occupied since Paleolithic times and served as the capital of the Celtic Cantiaci and Jute Kingdom of Kent.

Modern additions include the Marlowe Theatre and Kent County Cricket Club's St Lawrence Ground.

[11] In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres (53 ha).

[12] Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, possibly intermarrying with the locals.

[8][dubious – discuss] William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall.

In 1363, during the Hundred Years' War, a Commission of Inquiry found disrepair, stone-robbing and ditch-filling had led to the Roman wall becoming eroded.

In 1522 a stone cross with gilt lead stars was erected at the same place, and painted with bice and gilded by Florence the painter.

[18] In the mid-16th century many Huguenots, experiencing persecution and conflict in the Low Countries, fled and resettled in Reformed regions such as England.

[19] This first Huguenot church in Canterbury was founded around 1548, in part by Jan Utenhove who relocated from Strasbourg, alongside Valérand Poullain and François de la Rivière.

With the accession of Mary I, the Huguenot residents of Canterbury were compelled to flee in 1553–4 alongside the English Marian exiles to Emden, Wesel, Zürich, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, and later Basel, Geneva, and Aarau.

Charles I and Henrietta Maria visited in 1625; musicians played whilst the couple entered the city under a velvet canopy supported by six men holding poles.

[37][38] During the Second World War, 10,445 bombs dropped during 135 separate raids destroyed 731 homes and 296 other buildings in the city, including the missionary college and Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School.

[36] Before the end of the war, the architect Charles Holden drew up plans to redevelop the city centre, but locals were so opposed that the Citizens' Defence Association was formed; it swept to power in the 1945 municipal elections.

[64] The city's urban area consists of the six electoral wards of Barton, Blean Forest, Northgate, St Stephens, Westgate, and Wincheap.

[65] The former Holy Cross Church building was officially re-opened by the Prince of Wales as the new Canterbury Guildhall and meeting place of the City Council on 9 November 1978.

[78][79] The 17th century, double jettied, half-timbered Crooked House bookshop operated by the Catching Lives homelessness charity at the end of Palace Street, opposite Kings School is frequently photographed for its quirky, slanted appearance.

The waits were disbanded by the city authorities in 1641 for 'misdemeanors' but reinstated in 1660 when they played for the visit of King Charles II on his return from exile.

After an interval, the members sang catches and glees from the club's extensive music library which is now deposited at Canterbury Cathedral's archives.

[95] In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Canterbury Scene emerged comprising progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians established within the city.

Canterbury is the home of Kent County Cricket Club, with the St Lawrence Ground hosting many of the team's matches.

Currently, the city is the home of the East Kent Mavericks, 2023 BAFA National Leagues Southern Football Conference 2 Champions, as well as teams from both universities.

[111] The University of Kent's main campus extends to 600 acres (243 ha) and is situated on Saint Stephen's Hill, a mile north of Canterbury city centre.

St. Augustine established it shortly after his 597 arrival in Canterbury though documented history of it only began after dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, when it took the present name in honour of Henry VIII.

[citation needed] Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian from the Dover TV transmitter.

After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his episcopal see in Kent, and an abbey and cathedral were built.

[161] After the murder of the Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all parts of Christendom came to visit his shrine.

In 1647, during the English Civil War, riots broke out when Canterbury's puritan mayor banned church services on Christmas Day.

[168] Chaucer’s text became the inspiration for the 1944 British film, A Canterbury Tale by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price and Sgt.

In more recent popular culture, Canterbury appeared in Russell Hoban’s 1980 post apocalyptic novel Riddley Walker, renamed "Cambry".