The legend of Atlantis tells of a lost land that disappeared without a trace in the depths of the sea. In the cultures of many peoples, there are similar legends about cities that disappeared under water, in the sands of the desert or overgrown with forests. Consider five lost cities that have never been found.
Percy Fawcett and the Lost City of Z
Ever since Europeans first arrived in the New World, there have been rumors of a golden city in the jungle, sometimes called El Dorado. Spanish conquistador Francisco Orellana is the first to venture along the Rio Negro in search of a legendary city.
In 1925, 58-year-old explorer Percy Fawcett delved into the jungles of Brazil in order to find a mysterious lost city, which he named Z. Fost's team and himself disappeared without a trace, and this story became the reason for numerous publications. Rescue operations failed - Fossett was never found.
In 1906, the Royal Geographical Society of England, which sponsored scientific expeditions, invited Fawcett to explore part of the Brazilian border with Bolivia. He spent 18 months in the state of Mato Grosso, and during his expeditions Fawcett became obsessed with the idea of the lost civilizations in the region.
In 1920, at the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, Fawcett came across a document called Manuscript 512. It was written in 1753 by a Portuguese explorer. He claimed that in the region of Mato Grosso, in the Amazon rainforest, he found a walled city that resembles ancient Greek.
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The manuscript described a lost city with high-rise buildings, billowing stone arches, wide streets leading to a lake, where the explorer saw two white Indians in a canoe.
In 1921, Fawcett embarked on the first of his expeditions in search of the lost city of Z. His team endured many hardships in the jungle, surrounded by dangerous animals, and people were exposed to serious diseases.
One of Percy's routes
In April 1925, he made one last attempt to locate Z. This time he prepared himself well and received more funding from newspapers and communities, including the Royal Geographical Society and the Rockefellers.
In the last letter delivered home by a member of his team, Fawcett wrote a message to his wife, Nina: "We hope to get through this area in a few days … Don't be afraid of failure." This turned out to be his last message to his wife and the world.
Although Fawcett's Lost City of Z has not been found, in recent years ancient cities and traces of religious sites have been discovered in the jungles of Guatemala, Brazil, Bolivia and Honduras. New terrain scanning technologies offer new hopes that City Z will be found.
Lost city of Aztlan - the birthplace of the Aztecs
The Aztecs - a powerful empire of ancient America - lived in the territory of today's Mexico City. It is considered to be the epicenter of Aztec culture on the missing island of Aztlan, where they created civilization before their migration to the Valley of Mexico.
Skeptics consider the Aztlan hypothesis to be a myth similar to Atlantis or Camelot. Thanks to legends, the images of ancient cities live, but it is unlikely that they will be found. Optimists dream of glee at the discovery of legendary cities. The search for the island of Aztlan stretches from western Mexico all the way to the deserts of Utah. However, these searches are unsuccessful, because the location of Aztlan remains a mystery.
Unusual 1704 map by Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri. The first publicly published version of the legendary Aztec migration from Aztlan.
According to Nahuatl legend, seven tribes lived in Chicomostok - "the place of seven caves". These tribes represented seven Nahua groups: Acolua, Chalca, Mexica, Tepaneca, Tlahuica, Tlascalan and Xochimilca (sources call variants of names). Seven tribes with similar languages left the caves and settled together near Aztlan.
The word Aztlan means “land to the north; the land from which the Aztecs came. According to one theory, the inhabitants of Aztlan became known as the Aztecs, who later migrated from Aztlan to the Valley of Mexico.
The migration of the Aztecs from Aztlan to Tenochtitlan is a turning point in Aztec history. It began on May 24, 1064, the first solar year of the Aztecs.
The seekers of the homeland of the Aztecs, in the hope of finding the truth, undertook many expeditions. But ancient Mexico is in no hurry to reveal the secrets of Aztlan.
The Lost Land of Lioness - a city at the bottom of the sea
According to the legend of King Arthur, Lioness is the birthplace of the protagonist from the story of Tristan and Isolde. This mythical land is now called the "Lost Land of Lioness." She is believed to have sunk into the sea. Although Lyonesse is mentioned in legends and myths, it is believed that he sank into the sea many years ago. It is difficult to determine the line between fiction and reality of hypotheses and legends.
Lioness is a large city surrounded by one hundred and forty villages. He disappeared on November 11, 1099 (although some accounts say 1089, and some speak of the 6th century). Suddenly, the land was flooded by the sea, people drowned.
Although the story of King Arthur is a legend, Lyonesse is considered a real place adjacent to the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall, England. In those days, the sea level was lower.
Scilly is the westernmost and southernmost point of England and the southernmost point of Great Britain
Fishermen from the Isles of Scilly report that they removed pieces of buildings and other structures from their fishing nets. Their words are not supported by evidence and are criticized.
The tales of Tristan and Isolde, the final battle between Arthur and Mordred, the legend of the city swallowed up by the sea, the stories of Lioness prompts you to find the ghost town.
The search for El Dorado - the lost city of gold
For hundreds of years, treasure hunters and historians have searched for the lost golden city of El Dorado. The idea of a city filled with gold and other riches tempted people from different countries.
The number of those wishing to find the greatest treasure and ancient miracle is not decreasing. Despite numerous expeditions to Latin America, the golden city remains a legend. No traces of its existence were found.
The origins of Eldorado originate in the stories of the Muisca tribe. After two migrations - one in 1270 BC. and another between 800 and 500. BC. - the Muisca tribe occupied the Cundinamarca and Boyaca areas of Colombia. According to the legend in El Carnero by Juan Rodríguez Freile, the Muisca performed rituals for each new king using gold dust and other treasures.
The new king was brought to Lake Guatavita and covered with gold dust naked. The retinue, led by the king on a raft with gold and precious stones, went to the center of the lake. The king washed away gold dust from the body, and the retinue threw pieces of gold and precious stones into the lake. The meaning of this ritual was to make a sacrifice to the Muisca god. For the Muisca, Eldorado is not a city, but a king, who was called "the one who is gilded."
Although the meaning of "el dorado" is originally different, the name has become synonymous with the lost city of gold.
In 1545, the conquistadors Lazaro Fonte and Hernán Perez de Quesada wanted to drain Lake Guatavita. Gold was found along the shores, which sparked suspicions among treasure hunters about the presence of treasures in the lake. They worked for three months. The workers passed the water in buckets along the chain, but did not drain the lake to the end. They didn't make it to the bottom.
In 1580, Antonio de Sepúlveda made another attempt. And again, gold items were found on the shores, but the treasures remained hidden in the depths of the lake. There were other searches in Lake Guatavita. The lake is estimated to contain $ 300 million in gold.
However, the search was stopped in 1965. The Colombian government has declared the lake a conservation area. However, the search for Eldorado continues. The legends of the Muisca tribe and the ritual sacrifice in the form of treasures over time turned into the current story of Eldorado, the lost city of gold.
Dubai's Lost in the Desert: A Buried Story
Dubai maintains an image of an ultra-modern city with breathtaking architecture and effortless wealth. However, forgotten cities are hidden in the deserts. History shows how the early inhabitants of the sands adapted and overcame dramatic climate change in the past.
Lost city - the legend of Arabia - medieval Julfar. Historians knew about its existence from written records, but could not find it. Homeland of the Arab sailor Ahmed ibn Majid and supposedly for the fictional sailor Sinbad, Julfar prospered for a thousand years until it fell into ruins and disappeared from human memory for two centuries.
Julfar was known in the Middle Ages as a thriving port city - the center of trade in the southern part of the Persian Gulf. It was located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, north of Dubai, but archaeologists discovered its actual location in the 1960s. Traces found at this site date back to the 6th century. The inhabitants of the port conducted regular trade with India and the Far East.
The 10th-14th centuries were a golden age for Julfar and Arab long-distance trade, when Arab seafarers regularly traveled halfway around the world.
The Arabs swam into European waters long before the Europeans managed to cross the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf. Julfar played an important role in the naval adventures of the Persian Gulf for over a thousand years. Arab merchants considered daunting 18-month sea voyages to China commonplace. The range of products will surprise modern traders.
Julfar attracted constant attention from rival powers. In the 16th century, the Portuguese took control of the port. Already 70 thousand people lived in Julfar.
A century later, the city was captured by the Persians, but in 1750 they lost it. Then he fell into the hands of the Kawazim tribe from Sharjah, entrenched in the neighborhood, in Ras al-Khaimah, which they continue to rule to this day. And old Julfar gradually fell into decay until its ruins, located among the coastal sand dunes, were not forgotten.
Much of Julfar is likely to remain hidden under the sands north of Ras al-Khaimah today.
