Known as the capital of the Highlands, Inverness lies at the mouth of the River Ness as it flows into the Moray Firth in northwest Scotland. The river flows south into nearby Loch Ness via the Caledonian Canal, which connects Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. Loch Ness is the home of the famous Loch Ness Monster, commonly known as Nessie.

The buildings of Inverness include Inverness Castle and St Andrew’s Cathedral. The castle was built on the site of a previous building from 1835 and is now a Sheriff Court – an older wooden castle was located further east in the 11th century, and may have been the basis for the castle in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. St Andrew’s Cathedral has a curiously square-topped look to its spires, as funds ran out before they could be completed.

Inverness was granted city status by the Queen in December 2000, and celebrated its new status officially in March 2001. Its population was approximately 62,000 in 1991. The city’s economy relies mainly on tourism, with its many bed and breakfast establishments, and is boosted by tweed production, leather tanning, engineering, and distilling. Salmon fishing is also popular, and smoked salmon is a local delicacy.

Culloden moor lies nearby, and was the site of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which ended the Jacobite rebellion.

Inverness's football team, Caledonian Thistle won a famous 3-1 victory against Celtic in a third-round Scottish Cup tie in February, 2000.

Sources:
Chronicle of Britain, Chronicle Communications Ltd
http://www.scotland-info.co.uk/inverness.htm?source=espotting