Canterbury's defensive walls have loomed large in the city's history for nearly two millennia. By the third century, Canterbury was already known as Durovernum Cantiacorum, meaning the walled town of the tribe of the Cantiaci by an alder marsh. The 2.7km wall was then newly built, but it deterred invaders for another 700 years at least, with stories still told of Danish Vikings being thrown from the battlements. Today, much of it remains, including long stretches of wall, gatehouses and wall towers.
