The National Library of Rio de Janeiro contains an archival manuscript describing the discovery of a lost city in the jungle of Brazil. The document is called "Historical report about an unknown and large settlement, the oldest, without inhabitants, which was discovered in the year 1753". Also, the manuscript indicates the discovery of gold and silver deposits in an abandoned city.
The document, which is one of the most famous relics of the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, is something like a diary that was kept in Portuguese. The condition of this diary is poor. But this does not stop numerous explorers from going in search of treasures and remains of an ancient abandoned city.
Modern historians and historiographers call Manuscript 512 (sometimes we write Manuscript 512) as the basis of almost the greatest myth of Brazilian archeology. But due to its colorful and rich style, the document ranks among the best literary works written in Portuguese. A ten-page expeditionary report describes how a group of Portuguese "Indian hunters" discovered the ruins of a lost, dead city.
One of the pages of the manuscript.
The record was lost for some time in the archives, then in 1839 it was discovered and transferred to the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute for evaluation. It was Brazil that only recently gained independence and the new nation really needed just such stories. Therefore, the 512 Manuscript extracted from the archives quickly gained popularity - and for a very long time excited the minds of adventurers and lost treasures.
The manuscript describes how a detachment of Portuguese saw mountains that sparkled with thousands of crystals. And since they did not manage to immediately find a passage to the mountains, people set up camp at the foot. But after some time, by chance, one of the squad members discovered the passage. From the top, people saw a large settlement and immediately dispatched scouts.
The Chapada-Diamantina mountain ranges are the most popular version of the location of the lost city from MS 512.
But all those sent on reconnaissance claimed that the city was dead, the inhabitants had been gone for a long time. At the same time, the city was decorated with three arches, the main one had inscriptions. The manuscript also describes a square with a black column in the middle and a statue of a man pointing to the north, buildings that are supposed to be a palace and a temple, a river, flowering fields and a lake with wild rice and flocks of ducks.
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After several days of research, people found several caves in which chunks of ore - presumably silver - were scattered. The entrance to one of these caves was closed with a heavy stone slab with an inscription on it. Traces of gold and silver deposits were also found on the banks of the river. A gold coin was found at the site of the ruins of one of the houses, which also prompted people to think about the treasures buried under the ruins of the city.
The arch at Tamugadi (Algeria) is believed to be most reminiscent of the triple arch described in MS 512.
Subsequently, many researchers appeared who interpreted Manuscript 512 in their own way. Each found its own meaning in the descriptions, many went on search expeditions in the jungle of Brazil, but the mysterious city with treasures was never found. This story even entered the plot of the book and the film of the same name "The Lost City of Z", in which a certain adventurer travels to uncharted regions of Brazil in search of the lost city.
