It is very strange that almost no one knows about this story, does not make films about it, does not write books. Because it has everything - the luxury of the Roman Empire, sunken ships, treasure hunt, antique artifacts that cardinals and fascists were looking for, as well as mysterious mechanisms created before our era …
Sacred lake
Not far from Rome there is a lake called Nemi. It was formed in the crater of an inactive volcano, and its name comes from the Latin word "grove". The lake lies at an altitude of about three hundred meters above sea level, its maximum depth reaches about thirty-four meters.
Lake Nemi.
Throughout history, the lake was considered sacred and was associated with the goddess Diana. In ancient times, the lake was known as Speculum Dianae or "Mirror of Diana". The remains of a temple dedicated to this goddess have been excavated on its shore. Interestingly, it is believed that Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were born in these places.
Remains of the temple of Diana.
Since ancient times, there have been legends that at the bottom of Lake Nemi there are huge ships that were once built by the Roman emperor Caligula. He loved luxury and the ships he created amazed the imagination of his contemporaries.
Promotional video:
The ancient Roman writer and historian Guy Suetonius Tranquill describes these ships as follows: "the stern of each of the ships sparkled with precious stones, they had enough baths, galleries and salons, and various varieties of grapes and fruit trees grew."
This is how the ships looked according to modern researchers.
These legends were confirmed: local fishermen constantly caught pieces of wood and some metal objects with nets, which they used for their needs or melted down.
Artifacts in networks
For the first time, the bottom of the lake was seriously investigated back in 1444, during the reign of Cardinal Prospero Colonna, who was interested in archeology. And indeed they found a huge ship, measuring 71 meters long and 21 meters wide. They tried to lift him, but nothing worked.
These attempts were repeated several times from century to century, but no one could lift the vessel - there was not enough technical power. The only thing that the seekers managed to do was that in the 19th century the British stripped bronze, gold and marble jewelry, ornaments and mosaics from the ship, which were then sold to various British museums.
Plundering of ships has been carried out since ancient times.
Local fishermen also began to use the sunken ships for commercial purposes. Using hooks and nets, they retrieved ship parts and artifacts, which they then sold to wealthy Europeans who visited the site on grand tours.
At the beginning of the 20th century, underwater archaeologists found another huge vessel in Lake Nemo - sixty meters long and twenty meters wide. Both vessels were examined by divers. It turned out that they were really just floating palaces - with marble columns and floors, statues and galleries.
In 1927, the dictator Benito Mussolini ordered to raise luxurious and huge ships at all costs. He believed that he was obliged to revive the great Roman Empire. (Later, in 1936, Mussolini received the title "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism and Founder of the Empire").
Therefore, ancient artifacts and ships were supposed to symbolize some kind of continuity between the Roman Empire and the new Nazi empire.
The technical capabilities of the 20th century made lifting the ship already possible, but still this process took as much as 5 years. The lake had to be drained, and rails had to be laid along its bottom in order to transport ships along them.
The lifting process.
By the way, it is curious that when the lake was drained, an ancient canal-tunnel was found, which had existed for thousands of years and was used to discharge water during floods. The tunnel stretched 1.6 km across the hillside to the Arricia Valley, from where the water flowed through drainage ditches into the sea.
Bearings and underfloor heating
So, the ships were on the shore. And all the researchers were amazed at their perfection and size. It turned out that the first ship, which was measured in 1444, is even larger - its length is 73 meters, and its width is 24 meters.
The rise of ships became a sensation.
Dictator Mussolini at the ships. By the way, he believed that he was reviving the great Roman Empire.
It turned out that the wooden sides of the ships are protected by triple lead sheathing, and its metal parts are gilded. Interestingly, numerous nails were treated with some kind of anti-corrosion solution and were perfectly preserved.
The size of the ships is striking in our time.
Interestingly, some of the mosaics on the ship featured the color combination of the modern green, white and red Italian flag. Also found were statues, columns, bronze figures, etc.
Mooring rings.
The head of Medusa the Gorgon found on the ship.
Another artifact from the ship.
These marble columns adorned the ship.
Curiously, the large ship had room for rowers and oars - while the second had none. In addition, two mysterious rotating platforms were found on it. Eight bronze balls were found under one of the platforms, which were moving in a chute.
Mysterious antique mechanisms.
The second platform lay on eight wooden rollers, also moving in a chute. Both designs are reminiscent of rolling bearings, the prototype of which was not invented until the 16th century by Leonardo da Vinci.
Surprisingly, the anchor lifting device used a crank mechanism, and in addition, the ships had a complex pump for pumping water.
The ship had a pump of this type.
But that's not all. Lead pipes and bronze taps were found, which indicated that the ships had sewers, hot and cold running water, and a marble floor heating system!
It was the pipes that made it possible to determine when the ships were built and to whom they belonged - it turned out that the ancient legends were right. On one pipe it was written that this was the property of Caesar Germanicus - this is the name of the emperor Caligula, who reigned until 41 AD and was killed by conspirators.
Lead antique trumpet with clear letters.
Perhaps, it is somehow connected with his death why the ships ended up at the bottom, because no damage was found on them. Perhaps the angry conspirators deliberately flooded the magnificent ships, which for them became a symbol of the emperor's luxurious and dissolute life.
But we are interested in something completely different. How could a ship move without rowers, what are these mysterious platforms and rolling bearings that existed 2000 years ago?
Our entire history is built only on speculation, on scraps of ancient texts, on the interpretation of facts by historians who studied ancient buildings and artifacts in the 18th-19th centuries, at the level of development of technology at that time. Perhaps (more precisely - 100%) that in fact everything was not the way they tried to explain. And the ships of Caligula clearly contained the mystery of past technologies.
Remnants of the technology of antiquity.
But we will never know their secret. Because in 1944, retreating German troops burned both ancient ships. Only some of their traces have survived - columns, bronze figures, anchors, some artifacts and photographs of Caligula's ships, irretrievably lost in the 20th century …
Anchor from the ships of Caligula.
All that remains of the ships. On the left is the reconstruction of the ship in the amount of 1: 5.
By the way, according to legends, Caligula had three such ships. So, it is possible that at the bottom of Lake Nemi there is still an undeveloped antique ship full of mysterious artifacts and keeping the secrets of past technologies.
Author: Natalia Trubinovskaya