Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle is surely one of the most picturesquely situated castles in the Scottish Highlands. Located 16 miles south-west of Inverness, the castle, one of the largest in Scotland, dominates a sandstone bluff overlooking much of the length of Loch Ness. In the past the location endowed Urquhart with strategic importance; as far back as the beginning of the Christian era, a small Iron Age fortification occupied this promontory.

Today, visitors come to stroll through the ruins of the late-13th century castle, which was blown up in 1692 to prevent the Jacobites from occupying it. More interestingly, they come because Urquhart has earned the reputation of being one of the best spots for sighting Loch Ness's most famous inhabitant. Its formal name is Nessiterras Rhombopteryx, a name bestowed by Dr. Robert Rines, President of the Academy of Applied Science and Sir Peter Scott, Honorary Chairman of the World Wildlife Council International. But for more than 55 years she's been known by a more familiar name. To both advocates who swear to her existence, and to sceptics who see her only as a figment of creative Scottish imagination, she is simply 'Nessie'.

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