Inverness

Inverness, burgh, administrative center of Highland unitary authority, northern Scotland, on the Ness River and the Caledonian Canal, near its mouth on an arm of Moray Firth. Inverness is the road and rail hub of northern Scotland and the commercial center for a large area. Manufactures include processed foods, iron and steel, electrical equipment, and woolens. Its port handles mainly imports of petroleum products. Among the points of interest are a castle built on the site of a 12th-century structure and the nearby Craig Phadrig, the remains of a fort dating from about the 4th century. The strategically located site was the capital of the Picts in the 6th century. It was here in about 565 that Saint Columba converted the Pictish king Brude to Christianity. By the 12th century Inverness was a thriving trading community and had a royal castle. The castle was destroyed in 1746 by the Jacobites. Before 1975 Inverness was the county town of the former county of Inverness-shire. Population 63,850 (1993 estimate).