One of the most mysterious underwater cities is Ker-Is, which sank off the coast of Brittany (northwestern France) in the Gulf of Douarnenez, presumably in the first half of the 5th century. It was founded and made the capital of his kingdom by the legendary Gradlon the Great, who ruled the Celtic Armorica (modern Brittany).
According to legend, Ker-Is was built on land belonging to powerful fairies, but they were supportive of Gradlon and generously ceded part of their possessions to him. The city grew literally before our eyes, and soon there was no equal in beauty and wealth in the Celtic lands.
From the sea, approaching directly to the walls of Ker-Is, the brainchild of Gradlon was protected by a huge dam, and the king always wore the golden key from its locks, which also opened the city gates, around his neck.
It must be said that Gradlon the Great was one of the first Celtic kings to adopt Christianity. He was baptized by the wise Saint Gwenole, who later became a good friend and helper to the ruler. On his advice, Gradlon built Ker-Is as a Christian city, decorating its streets with cathedrals and chapels.
However, the king did not rule the new city for long. Soon he handed over power over Ker-Is to his only daughter Dakhut, who for a long time begged for this generous gift from her father. Unlike a kind and generous parent, the princess had an evil and ruthless heart, which, according to legend, the girl received "a gift" from an elven sorceress, offended by Gradlon many years ago.
Choosing Dakhut as an instrument of revenge, the elf cast a spell on the princess: she would not rest until she destroyed the king himself, his family and his city.
Failure of Saint Gwenola
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Having received unlimited power over Ker-Is, Dakhut immediately began to introduce her own order in the city, encouraging deception, idleness and licentiousness. She herself indulged in debauchery, changing lovers almost every night. When the lover bored the ruler, some black people who stood at her service choked the unlucky young man and, on stormy nights, threw his body into the abyss of the sea.
But one day the princess fell in love with a man from foreign lands and decided to secretly take her chosen one to the city. To do this, one of the nights Dakhut stole the coveted golden key from her father, but in the dark she confused the doors and instead of the city gates opened the sluices of the dam. Huge waves swept the city, sweeping away everything in its path, but Gradlon, awakened by Saint Gwenole, managed to jump on his horse and gallop away from the dying Ker-Is.
On the way, he picked up the unlucky Dakhut, who was running away from the city, and put her behind him. However, the raging elements overtook the fugitives, and then Saint Gwenole appeared before the king, who shouted to Gradlon:
- Cast off the devil sitting behind you, otherwise you will perish!
But the good ruler could not destroy his beloved daughter, and then the saint himself pushed her into the abyss. As soon as the waters closed over the head of the assassin princess, the sea immediately calmed down and the king was saved.
Following the Christian precepts, Saint Gwenole wanted to immediately celebrate a memorial mass for the souls of the lost inhabitants of Ker-Is, but the insidious Dakhut, turned by evil forces after death into a mermaid, prevented him by breaking the chalice with holy gifts. Since then, she continues to rule both the beautiful city, however, already standing at the bottom of the sea, and its inhabitants, who have not found peace.
Echoes of a distant tragedy
Of course, the events of those days could be called just an old legend if their heroes - Gradlon the Great and Saint Gwenole - were not real historical characters.
Also, the legend says that after the death of Ker-Is, the escaped king founded a new capital - Kemper, and this city still exists today. And one of its main attractions is the equestrian statue of Gradlon, installed at the end of the 12th century between the spiers of the cathedral. The existence of a once significant metropolis on the coast of the Gulf of Douarnenez is also evidenced by the remains of ancient Roman roads that break off by the sea.
In addition, the inhabitants of Brittany believe that Ker-Is did not completely sink under the water and the waves spared a small "piece" of it. This is considered today the islet of Tristan in the Bay of Douarnenez, not far from the city of the same name.
I must say that this piece of land did not get its name by accident, since at one time the island became the place where the plot of another famous medieval legend unfolded. They say that it was here that the legendary knight Tristan was hiding from the royal wrath, after which the "piece of Ker-Is" received his name.
An interesting fact is that at about the same time that Ker-Is supposedly went under water, another metropolis of France in the early Middle Ages, Lutetia, was renamed Paris (Paris), as this name is translated from Breton "like Isu".
It is also known that when the future capital of France received its new name, one old druid predicted that Is will rise from the waters when Paris goes under water. And if in those distant times few believed this prophecy, today in connection with the threat of global warming, climate change and the rise in the level of the World Ocean, it is worth thinking about the words of the druid.
Messengers from the other world
Be that as it may, the Bretons are sure that life in Ker-Is continues under the water column. And this is despite the fact that over the past decades numerous diving enthusiasts have repeatedly explored the bottom of the Douarnenez Bay up and down, but the remains of the ancient city have not been found there.
However, from time to time, bells ring out from under the water, and it is not possible to establish the source of these sounds. Esotericists believe that Ker-Is fell into a parallel dimension, since the "land of fairies", on which Gradlon built the city, from time immemorial was considered a reserved place full of various miracles.
However, according to another version of researchers of paranormal phenomena, the spell cast by the elven sorceress on Dakhut is to blame for the underwater imprisonment of Ker-Is. She cannot rest in peace and will not let go of the souls of her subjects while at least one descendant of Gradlon is alive on earth. In the opinion of believers, the problems of the city-martyr could be solved by a memorial mass, which Saint Gwenola never served.
Be that as it may, the inhabitants of Ker-Is do not lose hope of salvation. Residents of Douarnenez and adjacent settlements say that the underwater city more than once "sent" messengers to people, so that they, with a simple word or deed, would alleviate the fate of the underwater city.
So, once, two Breton ladies, having gone to sunbathe in a distant quiet corner of the city beach, were surprised to see there a shop with goods, where merchants in strange clothes were selling. For their incomprehensible, even, one might say, exotic goods, they asked for a ridiculous price, but the ladies did not have money with them.
Convinced of this, one of the merchants exclaimed in despair that if he received at least su from a person, Ker-Is would be saved. After that, the shop, merchants and goods literally disappeared into thin air.
Another similar story, which happened several years ago, is more likely to cause confusion than pity for the lost city. One day at dusk, a fine-looking old woman approached two teenagers who were cleaning up garbage on a deserted beach and asked to help her carry a bundle of brushwood home.
Young people were surprised - why a modern EU pensioner could need brushwood. Considering it some kind of eccentricity, they explained that they could not quit urgent work and politely refused the elderly lady. The same one in response began to shower the boys with dirty curses and curses, shouting at the same time that if they said "yes", the beautiful city would be freed from eternal torment.
Not expecting such words from a cute old woman, the teenagers hurried to retreat, discussing among themselves whether it was worth saving some city, where elderly ladies are fluent in a three-story dialect.
Elena LYAKINA. Magazine "Secrets of the XX century" №47