The world is full of wonders and there are many more to discover. Today we will look at the most interesting underwater cities and temples of ancient civilizations. Here are ten amazing underwater cities that really exist.
1. Atlit Yam, Israel
Just off the coast of Atlit in Israel are the remains of a small village called Atlit-Yam. They were found 12 meters below sea level and cover 40 thousand square meters. Its history goes back to 6900 and 6300 BC. It is one of the oldest and largest sunken settlements ever found. Among the dozen human skeletons resting undisturbed in their graves, stones, bones and flint artifacts, they also found seven megaliths standing in a semicircle.
2. Lion City, Quiandao Lake, China
One of the most dazzling, otherworldly and fascinating underwater cities is the Lion City, which was found at the bottom of Quiandao Lake in China. But this city of superb architecture, statues and lavish wealth didn't lie undiscovered for thousands of years - it was only deliberately flooded fifty years ago to make way for a power plant. The city, once known as Shi Cheng, was built more than a thousand years ago, and today it is located 40 meters underwater. Once the center of politics and economy in the eastern province of Zhejiang, today it is the "Chinese Atlantis".
3. Dwarka, Cambay, India
In 2001, they announced that they had discovered the ruins of an ancient civilization 20 kilometers off the coast of Gujarat, in the Gulf of Khambhat, 40 meters below sea level. More than nine thousand years old, the city is said to be older than the mysterious Harappan civilization, which dates back four thousand years. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the area was submerged at the end of the last ice age, nine to ten thousand years ago. In 2010, there were speculations that it was the ancient abode of the god Krishna.
4. Cleopatra's Palace, Alexandria, Egypt
One of the most fascinating discoveries of the underwater world is certainly the ruins of Cleopatra's sunken palace and temple, off the coast of Alexandria, dating back three thousand years. As with many cities, the royal chambers, harbor and temples in Alexandria simply slipped into the sea during the earthquake. Astounding artefacts have been discovered, including coins, small amulets and statuettes, as well as large statues of warriors, the Sphinx and various vessels used to transport and store goods.
5. Port Royal, Jamaica
Once a trading center in the Caribbean Sea, managed by both Spain and England in the second half of the 17th century, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692, and later by tsunamis, regular floods and fires. The extensive northern part of the city thus slipped into the sea, including the town houses, fortifications and nearly three thousand people. This little piece of the world is a paradise for archaeologists, rich with all kinds of artifacts dating back to the early 1500s and up to the early 1900s, as well as evidence of pirate activity.
READ MORE: These are the most beautiful abandoned cities in the world!
6. Pyramids of Yonaguni-Jima, Japan
Our next underwater site is located on the south side of Younaguni Island. In 1980, mysterious rocks in the form of stairs like terraces, with straight sides and angular corners, were discovered by local divers. These structures are believed to be all that remains of the legendary Pacific Mu civilization, which was supposedly washed away by the tsunami. The ruins date back more than five thousand years and structures similar to the ruins on land contain charcoal dating back 1,600 years.
7. Baia, Naples, Italy
The Las Vegas of its time for the Roman elite, including Caesar, Nero and Cicero, who even demanded that vacation villas be built there, is now underwater. Today it is the Archaeological Park of Baia, full of dazzling sights: various statues, villas with mosaics, etc. Above the ground, we find a statue of Hermes standing in a niche, an arched corridor leading to the meadow and three temples that will take us back to a forgotten time. But all this is under the surface of the water. In 1500, the remains of the luxurious city were washed into the sea due to rising sea levels, the cause being the neighboring volcanic springs.
8. Heracleion – Thonis, Alexandria, Egypt
Heracleion by the Ancient Greeks and Thonis by the Ancient Egyptians is a mysterious city that was buried by sand and mud more than 1,200 years ago. Thinking it was nothing more than a legend, it was discovered at the beginning of the last century, and only today has the city begun to reveal its secrets. They discovered more than 64 ships buried in clay and sand, gold coins and brass weights, large statues measuring almost five meters and smaller statues in honor of the gods. What was once the most important port in the Mediterranean Sea is today one of the most important archaeological finds ever.
9. Pavlopetri, Southern Greece
The trade center of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, the 5,000-year-old sunken city of Pavlopetri is only 4 meters below sea level and is probably the oldest underwater city in the world. Archaeologists never get tired of the city, which they call a masterpiece of urbanism and boasts a complex water management system. The city is said to come from the same period of Greece as the Greek poem The Iliad.
10. Lake Titicaca Temple, Peru/Bolivia
These pre-Inca ruins date back between 1000 and 1500 years and are attributed to the Tiwanaku or Tiahuanaco indigenous peoples. They are found in the depths of the highest lying lake in the world, Lake Titicaca. The ruins are part of an ancient temple, along with a terrace for crops, a road and an 800 meter long wall. The temple measures a staggering 200 by 50 meters, almost twice the size of an average football field.
