From Cleopatra’s palace to a mythical city that turned out to be real, here are 10 incredible
lost cities found underwater.
10.
Antirhodos
Sometime during the 4th century, the Egyptian city of Alexandria was hit by a huge earthquake
followed by a tsunami of epic proportions.
An island called Antirhodos was sunk during the process, taking with it Cleopatra’s
Palace and a former wonder of the ancient world: the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
This is reported to have happened a few centuries after Cleopatra’s death, and her palace
is rumored to be buried in a small bay under 10 to 20 feet of murky water.
Greek geographers and historians described the island and its location in texts, helping
people remember that it once existed even though nobody knew where it was.
It was also known as Anti-Rhodes because of its competition with the actual island of
Rhodes.
The sunken island and its royal contents remained largely a mystery until the 1990’s, when
a French archaeologist named Franck Goddio studied the ancient writings of the Greek
historian Strabo.
Intrigued by Strabo’s records and accompanied by a diving team, a determined Goddio set
out to find the lost island.
Problem was that Strabo wasn’t very precise and had actually gotten the location wrong.
But after several searches, they found it!!
It was a small island, occupied before Alexandria was founded and excavations revealed a royal
house belonging to Cleopatra, along with what may even be her tomb, and a temple dedicated
to Isis, one of the greatest goddesses of Ancient Egypt.
There was also a small port with a Roman wreck nearby, and Mark Antony’s half finished
palace.
While some artifacts remain at the site, over 140 of the most valuable and well-preserved
pieces have been taken to a museum for people to enjoy!
9.
Olous
Home to a population of around 40,000 at its peak, Olous was a Dorian city of ancient Crete
situated along the Aegean Sea.
The ruins are so close to shore, they are visible to the naked eye.
Olous was one of around 100 Minoan cities that flourished between 3000 B.C. and 900
B.C.
At the time, it fell along a major trade route that connected Northern Crete with the Aegean
islands and the rest of the Mediterranean.
Because the city is conspicuously absent from historical texts, most of what experts know
is gleaned from archaeological evidence.
Findings from underwater surveys fall in line with the suspicion that Olous was a wealthy
port city.
In addition to basic buildings, the ruins include roads and the remains of a Hellenistic
fortification consisting of a defensive wall and tower.
Archaeologists have also found coins dating back between 330 and 280 B.C. and inscriptions
linking Olous with the ancient city of Knossos and the island of Rhodes.
Remember, the enemy of Anti-rhodes!
Cemetery tombs, marble statue fragments, and an early Byzantine-era basilica indicate that
the settlement thrived during Roman times.
Researchers have trouble figuring out why Olous became submerged.
Some attribute its sinking to rising sea levels, while others believe that a volcanic eruption
on the nearby island of Santorini or an earthquake triggered its tragic demise.
Any of these scenarios are possible, but sea level patterns point toward the likelihood
that the site was consumed by rising waters.
8.
Dwarka
Located in the state of Gujarat in northwestern India, the modern-day city of Dwarka is one
of four sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites and one of the country’s seven most ancient
religious cities.
But there is another, older legendary version of the city that was believed to be nothing
but myth!
But now archaeologists have found submerged ruins under the sea!!
There are rumors that the site represents the mythical city of Dwarka founded by Lord
Krishna, an important character of Hindu mythology.
Krishna summoned divine powers to build the city complete with a massive stone wall to
protect it.
Also known as Dvaraka, the city had 900,000 royal palaces, all made with pure silver and
jewels, with gardens everywhere and the sound of birds singing and bees humming.
When Lord Krishna died, the Kingdom sank into the sea.
Excavations of the underwater sites have been ongoing for decades, revealing interior and
exterior walls and fort bastions, just like the mythical city.
There are also some other unidentified structures, as well as a stone-built jetty, triangular
stone anchors, stone sculptures, terracotta beads, and bronze, copper, and iron objects.
The style of the anchors suggests that Dwarka was one of the busiest ports on India’s
west coast during its Middle Kingdom period, which lasted from the third century B.C. to
the 13th century A.D.
Scientists from the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) Marine Archaeological unit
(MAU) also found inscriptions dating back to 1500 B.C. and pottery from as early as
3528 B.C.
Some claim that the site is as much as 9,500 years old based on the last time the land
it sits on was allegedly above water, which would make it older than the Sumerians!!!
7.
Phanagoria
Founded around 543 B.C. by Ancient Greeks fleeing from war in Asia Minor (modern-day
Turkey), Phanagoria was a coastal settlement on the Taman Peninsula in what is now Russia.
Covering an area of around 190 acres (75 hectares), it was a bustling trade center and one of
the most influential settlements along the Black Sea.
Several times during the course of its history Phanagoria was attacked by invading armies,
especially as its importance increased.
But the city managed to maintain its dominance in the region through its loyalty to the powerful
Roman Empire until the Huns sacked and destroyed it during the fourth century.
After all that, Phanagoria managed to regain its power and continued to flourish until
sometime during the 10th century, when it succumbed to an invasion for a final time.
There's only so much a city can take!!
The settlement was ultimately abandoned and a new city was built over its ruins during
the Middle Ages, but that city was also deserted, and the site has not been inhabited since.
The ruins of Phanagoria were rediscovered during the 18th century.
Excavations of the vast metropolis yielded discoveries of marble statue bases dedicated
to the goddess Aphrodite, gold and silver artifacts, an inscription dedicated to the
emperor Augustus, and crypts dating as far back as 1,500 years.
About one-third of Phanagoria has sunk beneath the sea amid rising sea levels.
Excavations of the site are ongoing both on dry land and underwater.
That's fun!!
The partial sinking of the site serves as an ominous warning about what will probably
eventually happen to the rest of it.
6.
Port Royal
Once known as “the most wicked and sinful city in the world,” Port Royal was located
on what used to be Jamaica's southeastern coast.
It became one of the New World’s largest European cities by the late 17th century and
was a haven for vice.
Las Vegas is nothing compared to Port Royal!!
Rife with drunkenness, prostitution, and other forms of debauchery, the natural harbor was
at one point controlled by the notorious pirate Henry Morgan, who became Lieutenant Governor
in 1675.
It was basically pirate heaven!!
But the sinful city’s glory days would be short-lived.
On June 7, 1692, a massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Jamaica, instantly liquefying the sand
that Port Royal was mostly built on top of and submerging buildings, roads, and people
into the Caribbean Sea.
Next came tsunami waves, which wiped out most of the remaining undestroyed parts of the
city.
Altogether, 33 acres (13.4 hectares) of Port Royal plunged into the water, killing around
2,000 people and destroying four of its five forts.
Even after Port Royal was destroyed, its corrupt culture lived on.
According to historical accounts, opportunists began looting and committing violent acts
before the ground even stopped shaking from the earthquake.
Many looked at the city’s demise as a sign of divine retribution -- God was punishing
the people of Port Royal for their wayward activities.
Today, Port Royal’s remains lie beneath up to 40 feet (12.2 meters) of water.
Archaeological excavations have produced rarely-seen 17th-century artifacts, including a pocket
watch stopped at 11:43 and dated to 1686.
The submerged site has been likened to an underwater Pompeii, with its remains left
“as is” since the fateful moment it sank without warning.
5.
Atlit Yam
As sea levels rose after the last ice age, coastlines around the world shrank, submerging
settlements and forcing people to repeatedly move inland.
Of the dozens of these underwater sites that dot the modern-day Israeli shore, Atlit Yam
is among the best-preserved.
Situated in the Bay of Atlit along the Haifa coast between 26 and 36 feet (8-11 meters)
below today’s sea levels, this Pre-Pottery Neolithic village dates back 9,000 years.
Marine archaeologists discovered the prehistoric settlement in the 1980s and excavated it between
then and the year 2000.
During that time, they found numerous artifacts revealing how people dealt with the rapidly
changing environment and introduced new technologies.
Atlit Yam contains the world’s earliest known freshwater wells, with seven megalithic
stones surrounding a spring in the middle of the site.
Additionally, archaeologists found the remains of around 100 plants, indicating that the
inhabitants ate a traditional, well-balanced Mediterranean diet, enabling some people to
live to the ripe old age of 50 years old, which constituted a long life back then.
Remember, its 9000 years ago..
Bones of fish, wild animals and domestic livestock show that Atlit Yam subsisted on a mixed economy
of agriculture and husbandry combined with hunting, fishing, and gathering.
Unlike most settlements of this type, Atlit Yam yielded numerous human burials, which
bear evidence of a population that struggled with malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and an ear
condition related to cold water diving.
These findings proved that TB is at least 3,000 years older than scientists previously
thought and helped to shed light on the disease’s bacterial evolution into modern times.
Residents also combated the elements amid a warming climate, dealing with chronic flooding
that ultimately caused them to abandon the site -- an ominous realization that some coastal
communities are having to face today.
And now for a lost Greek city, but first wanted to give a quick shout out to Miss Celanious
and Andy Christie!
Love hanging out with you all and thanks for spending time over here!!
Remember to subscribe if you haven’t already and let me know which city you wish still
existed in real life in the comments below!!
4.
Pavlopetri
Situated in Vatika Bay off Greece’s Peloponnese coast, Pavlopetri was a Bronze Age city that
was inhabited from the third millennium B.C. to around 1100 B.C., making it around 5,000
years old.
It’s the oldest known submerged ancient Greek settlement and one of the oldest such
sites in the world!!
Oceanographer Nicholas Flemming is credited with discovering Pavlopetri after having visited
the site in 1967.
He returned the following year with a colleague and some archaeologists, who went underwater
and mapped out the entire freshly discovered city.
They documented buildings, organized streets, and public squares.
Subsequent investigations in recent years have uncovered thousands of artifacts, including
large Minoan jars, tableware, and other everyday objects, offering an unprecedented glimpse
into the everyday lives of Pavlopetri’s residents.
Architectural features such as gardens, temples, a cemetery, and a water management system
have also been found.
Researchers believe that the city was a major Minoan and Mycenaean commerce center that
sank into the Mediterranean Sea during the first of three catastrophic earthquakes to
strike the area.
The disaster literally stopped life in its tracks, leaving the underwater site more-or-less
frozen in time since the moment it plunged below the surface.
However now Pavlopetri is threatened by tourists, souvenir hunters, and boats that drag their
anchors through the area.
3.
Lion City
Nicknamed “China’s Atlantis,” Shicheng -- also called the “Lion City” -- was
established around 1300 years ago, and was an important urban center in the area but
now lies hidden underwater.
It was deliberately flooded in 1959 and was soon forgotten about.
Situated at the foot of Wu Shi Mountain in Zhejiang province, roughly 250 miles (400
km) south of Shanghai, it remained inhabited until the mid-20th century, when nearly 300,000
residents were relocated to make way for a manmade lake as part of a hydroelectric power
plant construction project.
A local official was on a mission to make the lake more attractive to tourists, so he
met up with a diving club and they began exploring the area.
To everyone’s surprise, Shicheng was there!
After laying undisturbed for over a half-century, its structures remained perfectly preserved.
Underwater explorers discovered five entrance gates to the city as well as 5 towers, which
was extremely unique because most cities have 4 for the 4 cardinal directions.
So what was the 5th entrance?
They also have found 265 archways featuring carved lions, dragons, and inscriptions.
The structures at Shicheng date as far back as 1,400 years, although many are newer, having
originated during the Ming and Qing dynasties, which ruled from 1368 to 1912.
Experts believe that the walls surrounding the small, 0.2-square-mile (0.5 km2) site
were built during the 16th century.
Shicheng sits beneath 85 to 131 feet (26-40 meters) of water, which has protected it from
the elements over the last several decades.
The site is open to advanced divers, and is offering tours for people to go exploring.
2.
Mahabalipuram
When a historically destructive tsunami hit the Indian coast in 2004, onlookers in the
town of Mahabalipuram (also called Mamallapuram) watched as a long row of granite boulders
emerged from the ocean before the massive wave consumed them once again.
What was it??
Years later, a team of scientists from India’s National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) found
the remains of an ancient port settlement in that exact location 2,624 feet (800 meter)
from the shoreline.
Sunken beneath 27 feet (8.2 meters) of water are a 33-foot-long (10 meters) wall, a flight
of stairs, and chiseled stone blocks scattered along the seabed.
Unfortunately, the structures were covered with plant growth, making it difficult for
the team to identify them.
The head of the marine archaeological unit said that they could make out that they were
part of a building complex.
Researchers believe the buildings are between 1,100 and 1,500 years old.
Discoveries like this are paving the way for potential opportunities for archaeologists
to further explore India’s submerged history by increasing the chances of securing government
funding for future excavations.
1.
Simena
Dating back to around 2000 B.C., the ancient city of Simena was a small fishing village
during ancient times.
Located near the uninhabited island of Kekova of modern-day Antalya, Turkey, the Lycian
settlement was also an important trading post.
The Lycian civilization was unique to the Mediterranean coast of present-day Turkey,
making Simena an important archaeological site.
Made up of a democratic union of cities known as the Lycian League, Lycia is considered
one of the world’s first democratic systems.
Simena boasted the smallest Lycian amphitheater, a necropolis, shipyard, church, temple, walls,
and more.
Not sure why you want to brag about having the smallest theatre but it’s cute!
Several of these structures and features sank during the second century when a series of
cataclysmic earthquakes gradually submerged the city, which sat right at the water’s
edge until then.
Some of Simena’s ruins, including some residential homes and staircases, still peek up from the
water, making them visible to the naked eye.
The remains of the city’s public baths can be found along the shore, with an inscription
identifying them as a gift from the people to the emperor Titus.
Unfortunately, if you are hoping to view the sunken part of the city up close and personal,
you’re out of luck.
Diving and snorkeling are prohibited at the site, which is a designated Specially Protected
Area, to protect it from damage; meanwhile, Simena is on the tentative list of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites.
You can, however, catch a glimpse of the ruins from above via the occasional tour boats that
slow down as they pass through the ancient harbor.
Thanks for watching!!
Which ancient city would you want to see??
Any divers out there that already have??
Let us know in the comments below and remember to subscribe if you haven’t already!!
See you next time!!