Chester (England) was voted the most beautiful city in the world because most of its buildings follow the golden ratio.
The four-faced clock tower is the symbol of the city of Chester. Photo: Alamy Stock Photo.
A group of mathematicians have named Chester in England as the most beautiful city in the world, with Venice in Italy coming in second.
The study used Google View to evaluate thousands of buildings around the world, ranking them based on the proportion of buildings that followed the “golden ratio.”
The golden ratio (1:1.618), represents a set of proportions that fascinated ancient mathematicians. This ratio is often found in nature, such as flowers and seashells. For some reason, people perceive objects with this ratio as inherently beautiful.
According to the study, Chester is the city with the closest architecture to the golden ratio with 83.7% of buildings. This figure surpasses Venice with 83.3% and London (UK) with 82%.
Venice attracts hundreds of millions of tourists every year. Photo: iStock.
Online Mortgage Advisor, which published the research, said its experts analysed 2,400 buildings in the UK and found London ranked second after Chester in the UK alone and third in the world.
Research also shows that many artists have incorporated the “golden ratio” into their architectural works, believing it to be the gold standard for natural aesthetic perfection.
Dr Rebecca Andrews, professor of history at the University of Chester, wrote in a blog post on the university’s website: “Nearly 100 years ago, Britain’s leading travel writer HV Morton wrote about a visit to the city in his famous travelogue. He described the uniqueness of the city and its buildings as being unlike any other town in England. Morton was fascinated by the architecture and admired how lucky the people of Chester were to live in such a place.”
“I think the beauty of the city is a major driver for people to visit, live and invest,” said Colin Potts, head of the international tourism management programme at the University of Chester Business School and former director of tourism for Chester. “From there, people will discover more about the history, culture and people of the city.”
According to Znews
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