It changed the course of British history, but the Battle of Culloden remains one of the most commonly misunderstood moments in Scotland's story.

Now the events of that fateful day in April 1746 are being brought to life in one of the most ambitious tourist developments yet.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) yesterday opened its impressive new £9m visitor centre at the battlefield east of Inverness, the largest-ever construction project it has undertaken. Among its aims is to convey the brutality of warfare and the awful price ordinary people have to pay in the years afterwards.

State-of-the-art technology puts the visitor in the middle of the battlefield, with Jacobite troops and their Hanoverian enemies under the Duke of Cumberland descending on the audience in a 360-degree "immersion" film. The costumes and weapons are authentic.

The several hundred spectators who travelled from Inverness to watch the last major battle on British soil, are also represented. Many of them didn't make it back, as Cumberland's cavalry rode down all in their path.

But before the visitor gets to the cruelty of Culloden, there is a journey to undergo which is accompanied by Gaelic and English commentary. As well as as the immersion film, the conduct of the battle is rehearsed through computer representations on a table, which even depicts Prince Charlie leaving the field.

Meanwhile, from the eco-friendly centre's roof the visitor can look out over the battlefield.

This is where they begin their external tour, aided by a personal GPS-triggered guide to accompany them through the battlefield.