Christchurch ( Maori : Å?tautahi ) is the largest city on the South Island, and the second largest city in New Zealand with over 380,000 inhabitants. The city is named after the Christ Church of the University of Oxford and is located between the east coast at the mouth of the River Avon. The city is also called “the most English city outside England”. On 31 July 1856 Christchurch became a city by royal decree and is the oldest city in New Zealand.
Many buildings in Christchurch are built in neo-Gothic style. This makes the city very European to. Christchurch Botanic Gardens is the name of the famous botanical gardens in Christchurch.
History

There is evidence that the Maori had established this place around 1250. By 1840 the first Europeans came to Christchurch.
Christchurch is named after the building of the University of Oxford, Christ Church, by John Robert Godley (1814-1861), who had studied at this university. He was one of the first settlers of the region and is known as the founder of Canterbury. Together with Edward Gibbon Wakefield in 1848 he formed the Canterbury Association. Here was the Church of England reign.
After the English newspapers had written about, four ships from England went in 1850 with emigrants to New Zealand. In total, there was 792 people. The four ships named Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, and Cressy.

Parks

Nearly one third of Christchurch consists of parks, gardens or recreation grounds. Christchurch is also called the Garden City of New Zealand. Probably the best known park is Hagley Park . It is 180 acres and thus is the largest park in town. Here you can play golf, sports and hiking. There are also bike paths and ponds in the park.
The park is very old, the first settlers already reserved the land for a park. In 1856 the park formally reserved for public recreation and entertainment.
Another park is Victoria Square, where are statues of Queen Victoria and James Cook. There are also Ferrier fountains, which attract many tourists. A fourth park is the Orana Park. This is a game reserve located at some distance from the center.

Museums
There are several museums in Christchurch. The Air Force World Museum has an extensive exhibition devoted to the history of military aviation in New Zealand. The Canterbury Museum has permanent exhibitions on, inter alia, the discovery of Antarctica, the colonization, Maori culture, and martial arts. There are two art museums in Christchurch: Robert McDougall Art Gallery and Arts Centre of Christchurch.
Other museums include Science Alive and the Ferrymead Historic Park.
Near the airport, about 8 km west of the center, there is the Christchurch International Antarctic Centre. This is the Visitor Center Antarctich research. The permanent exhibition focuses on the (over) living at the research stations in Antarctica. In addition, a so-called climate where every half an hour set simulating a snowstorm. On the outside area, around the building, there is a “cross country” trail with organized demonstration of rides in Antarctic vehicles (known as Haglund).