Why go
The castle viewpoint makes more sense when you know this was a repeatedly contested stronghold, while Old High Church marks a much older religious site by the river. A walk between them gives the city’s history physical landmarks without requiring a long chronology.
The full story
The Inverness area was an important Pictish centre. Tradition places St Columba’s visit to King Brude in AD 565 and associates Craig Phadrig, west of today’s centre, with a hillfort. The precise details belong to early tradition, but the hill and the river still show why this area mattered. A religious site developed near the river where Old High Church and its graveyard stand today. Medieval Inverness became a royal burgh and a fortified Highland centre. Its castle changed hands and suffered repeated attacks as kings and regional powers contested the north. Mary, Queen of Scots, was refused entry to the castle in 1562 during a campaign against the Earl of Huntly; her supporters then took it. The present castle is later than those struggles, so read the hill as the enduring strategic site rather than as an intact medieval fortress. For a compact historical outing, start at Old High Church, continue through the old streets and finish at the castle and museum. Culloden Moor adds a separate eighteenth-century chapter outside the centre.