To find the real Narnia – as featured in a new movie version of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” – you have to venture to the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.

CS Lewis, creator of the magical “Chronicles of Narnia”, spent his childhood among the rolling hills of County Down, Mourne Mountains  and the rugged Antrim Coast. The landscapes were instrumental in his creation of the imaginary snowbound land, populated with talking animals and mythological creatures. It is this land that Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy enter through a wardrobe in the popular children’s story.

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children, that is by far the most popular of his works. The books have Christian themes and describe the adventures of a group of children who visit a magical land called Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was the first published and the most popular book of the series, has been adapted for both stage and screen. The Chronicles of Narnia borrow from Greek and Roman mythology, and traditional English and Irish fairy tales. Lewis reportedly based his depiction of Narnia in the novels on the geography and scenery of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland.