High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Urquhart Castle ( listen (help·info); Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal na Sroine) sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle is on the A82 road, 21 kilometres (13 mi) south-west of Inverness and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of the village of Drumnadrochit. The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played its role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. It was subsequently held as a royal castle, and was raided by the MacDonald Earls of Ross. The castle was granted to the Clan Grant in 1509, though conflict with the MacDonalds continued. Urquhart was destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces. In the 20th century it was placed in state care and is now a tourist attraction. Though extensively ruined, Urquhart Castle remains an impressive structure, situated on a headland overlooking Loch...