Rosemarkie is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle

Black Isle

The Black Isle is an eastern area of the Highland local government council area of Scotland, within the county of Ross and Cromarty. The name nearly always includes the article "the"....

 peninsula in northern Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

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Geography

Rosemarkie lies a quarter of a mile east of the town of Fortrose

Fortrose

Fortrose is a burgh in the Scottish Highlands, located on the Moray Firth, approximately ten kilometres north east of Inverness. The town is known for its ruined 13th century cathedral, and as the home of the Brahan Seer. In the Middle Ages it was the seat of the bishopric of Ross...

. The pair make up the Royal Burgh Of Fortrose and Rosemarkie, and are located approximately twelve miles north-east of Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

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Rosemarkie fronts on a wide, picturesque bay, with views of Fort George

Fort George, Highland

Fort George , is a large 18th century fortress near Ardersier, to the north-east of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland. It was built to pacify the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, replacing an earlier Fort George built with the same aim after the...

 and the Moray

Moray

Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...

 coastline across the Moray Firth

Moray Firth

The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...

. Rosemarkie has one of the finest beaches on the Moray Firth Coast Line. At the Fortrose end of the bay is Chanonry Point

Chanonry Point

Chanonry Point lies at the end of Chanonry Ness, a spit of land extending into the Moray Firth between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, Scotland....

, reputed to be the best location on the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 mainland from which to see dolphins.

Rosemarkie is linked to Inverness

Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...

 by fairly irregular bus services, which are provided by Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...

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Pictish stones

Rosemarkie is probably best known for its collection of finely carved Pictish stones

Pictish stones

Pictish stones are monumental stelae found in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line. These stones are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts and are thought to date from the 6th to 9th centuries, a period during which the Picts became Christianized...

, which is one of the largest in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 at a single site. These 8th-9th century sculptures, found in and around the village churchyard, are displayed in the Groam House Museum, a converted 18th century town-house on the High Street (open in summer; entrance charge). These carved stones are evidence for a major early monastery at Rosemarkie, founded by, or associated with, Saint Moluag

Saint Moluag

Saint Moluag, , , was a Scottish missionary, and a contemporary of Saint Columba, who evangelized the Picts of Scotland in the sixth century...

 (d. 592) and Boniface, otherwise known as Curetán

Curetán

Saint Curetán was a Scoto-Pictish bishop and saint, whose floruit lay between 690 and 710. He is listed as one of the witnesses in the Cáin Adomnáin, where he is called "Curetan epscop"...

 (fl. early 8th century). The sculptures include cross-slabs, shrine fragments and architectural pieces. One small fragment of a stone from Rosemarkie is in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

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