Christchurch view

View of the city from Cashmere Hills (Cracroft Reserve). Christchurch is the second largest city in NZ and the largest on the South Island with 500,000 in the metro area. Maōri settled the area in the 13th century. Canterbury pilgrims from Britain arrived in the 1850s. It became a city by royal charter in 1856. Christchurch suffered from major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The Māori name for modern-day Christchurch is Ōtautahi, meaning 'the place of Tautahi'.