Loch Ness

Nessie and the Urquhart Castle on the right

The iconic sight of Scotland is indeed a beautiful place.

'Loch' means lake in Gaelic, the native language of Scotland. The surface area of the stupendous Loch Ness is 56 km² it stretches narrowly from northeast to southwest. The water of the lake flows out at it's northern tip forming the River Ness. 

Though there are several things to see by the lake, for example the ruins of the medieval Urquhart Castle and the village of Durmnadrochit yet the lake is most famous for the legend of the Loch Ness monster a.k.a. 'Nessie'. The earliest stories of the legendary monster date back to the 6th century. She is imagined most commonly as a plesiosaur, an aquatic dinosaur that is thought to be extinct for many millions of years... That idea comes from a 1934 photograph which is claimed to be taken of the Loch Ness monster. What you can see on the photo is a large, long-necked animal that emerges from the water resembling to an ancient plesiosaur. Many people question the reliability of the photo whether it's a hoax or not... Anyways, tourism at the Loch Ness centers around the legend, you can visit the Loch Ness Center & Exhibition. There's even a Nessie sculpture in the lake in front of the visitors center :)

Date: March 2002