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Inverness-shire (Inverness, Fort William, Kingussie, Newtonmore, Portree)
Inverness, Capital of the Highlands,
became Scotland's fifth city in celebration of the start of the
Third Millennium.
It lies at the north end of the Great
Glen, where the River Ness flows into the Moray Firth, and has been
a natural focus for lines of communication to and through the
Highlands for most of the last two thousand years.
By the end of the 18th century
Inverness, the largest town of the Highlands, was acknowledged as
its capital with its theatre, Assembly Rooms and polite society. Its
winter season dazzled the eyes of the townsfolk balls,
concerts and plays all diverted the local gentry and wealthy
merchants who made the town their base for the dark winter months.
As the capital of the highlands, Inverness increasingly provided
metropolitan sophistication and diversions as the town attracted
wealthy families from all over the Highlands to settle.
A ring of mansions and fine houses
sprang up around the town where a civilized living style could be
enjoyed distant from the noise and bustle of the town yet close
enough to enjoy its facilities. |
