Castle Hill

New Zealand is known for

its natural beauty, but in 2002 a particular patch of farmland was given a special honor. It became a “Spiritual Center of the Universe.”

Called Castle Hill, the area is a high country station—a station is a large farm area dedicated to the grazing of sheep and cattle—on New Zealand’s South Island. Looking like the ruins of a castle, and hence the name, the hill is a popular climbing and bouldering spot for rock climbers.

But rock climbers aren’t the only ones impressed by the site. In 2002, the Dalai Lama visited the South Island. Apparently, he didn’t like the energy in the nearby town of Christchurch (whose church is made from rock quarried from the boulders) and he was taken to the boulder field. He was so taken by the landscape, and his spiritual experience there he named the area a “Spiritual Center of the Universe.”

The area got some world exposure when the nearby Flock Hill station was used for the filming of the climactic battle scenes of the 2005 movie

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

.