Inverness, Scotland, Capital of the Highlands - Impressiveness

<body bgcolor="#FFFF00"> <h1><img src="images/imptitle.gif" alt="Inverness, Scotland - Impressiveness" width="379" height="52"></h1> <h2><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><a href="index.html" target="_top">Inverness, Scotland - Home Page</a></font></h2><br> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="10"> </td> <td width="400" align="left" valign="top"> <p align="left"><br> <font face="Tahoma" size="2">The rich past of <b>Inverness</b> is matched by its future potential. This is a city that has evolved from an ancient fort, to the Capital of the <b> Highlands of Scotland</b>, to its current position as one of Europe's fastest growing towns. </font></p> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b><u>A CITY STEEPED IN HISTORY </u></b> <br> <br> For almost two millennia,<b> Inverness</b> has been recognised as an important junction for travellers and an economic centre for traders. Key characters and events in the city's history include : </font></p> <ul> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>560AD</b> -<b> St Columba</b> visits the Royal Court of the Pictish King Bridei overlooking the town. </font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1040 </b>- Legend has it that <b>MacBeth</b> - of Shakespeare notoriety - built his stronghold here. </font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1158</b> - <b>Inverness</b> is established as a <b>Royal Burgh</b> by <b>King David of Scotland. </b></font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1307</b> -<b> Robert the Bruce</b> seizes the first of the town's five castles from English forces. </font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1562</b> -<b> Mary Queen of Scots</b> has the governor of Inverness castle hung for refusing her entry. </font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1746</b> - <b>Bonnie Prince Charlie</b> sees his Jacobite troops defeated at the <b>Battle of Culloden</b>. </font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1822</b> - the spectacular<b> Caledonian Canal</b> is completed linking Inverness to the west coast. </font></li> <li><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>1921</b> - Inverness Town Hall hosts the only cabinet meeting of the British government ever held outside of London. </font></li> </ul> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b><u>AT THE CENTRE OF THINGS</u></b><br> <br> <b>Inverness</b> has always attracted people from far afield. The city has welcomed <b>Pictish</b>, <b>Celtic</b>, and <b>English</b> settlers amongst others, and today a cosmopolitan mix of residents and visitors give Inverness an atmosphere which is unique in the <b>Highlands</b>.</font></p> <p><font face="Tahoma" size="2">The Inverness area is home to<b> 65,000 people</b> and is growing at an unprecedented rate. As the <b>regional centre</b> for the <b>Highlands of Scotland</b>, it is the administrative hub of an area the size of Belgium. It is a vibrant city with excellent travel, retail, leisure and educational facilities, and a host of high tech and traditional industries. It is also an <b>award-winning town</b> - regularly recognised in the <b>Tourism Town of the Year</b>, <b>Britain in Bloom</b> and<b> Beautiful Scotland in Bloom </b>awards. Indeed, Inverness was recently ranked fifth out of 189 British towns and cities by the Quality of Life Research Group at the University of Strathclyde - and this did not take into account many of the city's most pleasant attributes including its location at the heart of the <b>Highlands of Scotland!</b> <br> <br> <a href="index.html" target="_top"><img src="images/home.gif" width="47" height="46" border="0" alt="Home"></a> </font></p> <p> </p> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> <table border="0" hspace="0"> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td height="173"> <img src="images/city.jpg" align="right" name="ismlogo" alt="Ariel view of Inverness, Scotland" width="300" height="221"></td> </tr> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td height="57"><img src="images/street.jpg" width="300" height="79" align="right" name="logo" alt="High Street Inverness, Scotland"></td> </tr> </table> <p>  </td> </tr> </table> <p align="center"><font size="2" face="Tahoma">Inverness, Scotland, the Highland Capital</font><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><br> URL = http://www.inverness-scotland.com/imp.html</font></p> </body>