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Jun 16, 2024 · Explore the haunting remains of ancient civilizations lost to time and the sea. From Cleopatra's palace to the Lion City of Quindao Lake, these sunken cities offer a glimpse into the forgotten past.
- Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt
- Dwarka, India
- Shicheng, China
- Atlit Yam, Israel
- Saeftinghe, Netherlands
- Port Royal, Jamaica
- The Lost Villages of Ontario
In 1933, an RAF pilot flew over Abu Qir Bay near Alexandria and spotted something peculiar. Beneath the azure Mediterranean, he made out ancient ruins. It was only years later that archaeologists excavated the ruins. In the 1990s and early 2000s, marine archaeologists discovered a whole city, Thonis-Heracleion. Once a bustling port, Thonis-Heraclei...
Dwarka, the god Krishna’s earthly home, is one of the four holiest Hindu sites. Hindus believe that it dates back 10,000 years. Legend says that after Krishna died, his beloved city and its occupants sank into oblivion. Hindu sources describe Dwarka’s unparalleled beauty and extravagance: palaces of precious metals, stones, and jewels. Apart from i...
In 1959, the Chinese government decided to create an artificial lake as part of a major hydroelectric development project. The drawback? They had to submerge an ancient city dating back to 25 AD. The decision was contentious. Critics decried the displacement of 300,000 residents from the area and the flooding of a priceless historical site. Others ...
In Israel, 12m below sea level, lies a 9,000-year-old Neolithic village. It is the world’s oldest submerged site and contains one of the oldest cases of tuberculosis on record. Archaeologist Ehud Galili discovered the village in the 1980s. Researchers subsequently found 65 human remains in graves, houses, tools, and seven megaliths forming half a c...
The Westerschelde Estuary in the Netherlands is a large nature reserve and marshland, full of plant and bird life. Long before twitchers and wildlife photographers flocked here, this swampy area hosted a thriving village that met a murky end in the 16th century. In the 1200s, the area was already water-logged and marshy, so monks from a nearby abbe...
The famous town from “Pirates of the Caribbean”, where Jack Sparrow caused havoc, was not entirely fictional. During the 17th century, Port Royal became one of the Caribbean’s most important cities, a center of trade and commerce. Unfortunately, it also gained a reputation for immorality and piracy. In June 1692, it seemed like the wrath of God had...
The completion of Canada’s St Lawrence Seaway in 1959 granted access to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic. A major achievement, but at the cost of 10 submerged villages — Woodlands, Santa Cruz, Wales, Aultsville, Dickinson’s Landing, Maple Grove, Mille Roches, Moulinette, Farran’s Point, and Sheek’s Island. Collectively, they are now known as the l...
There is an entire submerged world hidden just below sea level, largely out of sight to terrestrial beings today. The Earth’s shores are lined with sunken cities, flooded crypts, drowned...
- Lion City, China. Date sunk: 1959. This valley in China's Zhejiang Province was purposely flooded as part of the Xin'an River Dam project to generate hydroelectric power for the region, creating the Qiandao Lake.
- Saeftinghe, The Netherlands. Date sunk: 1584. Now a swamp known as the Drowned Land of Saeftinghe, this area was once a prosperous village. In the 13th century, people drained the marsh so that they could build on the fertile land; they also raised dikes around the reclaimed land to protect it from floods.
- Port Royal, Jamaica. Date sunk: June 7, 1692. The Caribbean pirate haven of Port Royal was known as "the wickedest city on Earth," according to the BBC, before a devastating earthquake and the tsunami that followed in its wake pushed two-thirds of the town beneath the waves.
- Rungholt, Germany. Date sunk: Jan. 16, 1362. The exact location of Rungholt — long considered just a legend — remains unclear, though the artifacts and evidence of land cultivation that have been found in the Wadden Sea hint at its existence as a trading port, according to a study published in the journal Quaternary International.
- Pavlopetri, Greece. Pavlopetri is about 5,000 years old and the oldest submerged lost city in the Mediterranean sea. In 1967, Nic Flemming, a researcher with the University of Southampton, came across remains sitting several feet below the water off the coast of southern Greece.
- Heracleion, Egypt. Ptolemaic coins from submerged Heracleion. Once a major port welcoming ships as they entered the Nile’s delta, Heracleion or Thonis — depending on if you’re using the Greek or Egyptian name — supposedly sprung up in the spot where Herakles (or Hercules) first stepped on Egyptian land.
- Baiae, Italy. A statue of a boy located off the coast of Baiae, Italy. In a way, you can still act like an ancient Roman and take a trip to Baiae.
- Atlit-Yam, Israel. A fragment of ancient construction at Neve Yam Beach at Atlit, Israel. More of a village than a city, the site of Atlit-Yam off the coast of northern Israel still has an impressive amount of material lingering under the water, especially since the site is about 7,500 to 8,000 years old.
Jul 20, 2021 · Divers have discovered rare remains of a military vessel in the ancient sunken city of Thônis-Heracleion - once Egypt’s largest port on the Mediterranean - and a funerary complex illustrating...
Learn about the history and archaeology of Baiae, Thonis-Heracleion, Derwent, Villa Epecuén and Port Royal, which were once above water but are now submerged. See stunning photos and videos of the ruins, artefacts and wildlife that lie beneath the surface.
