Legendary lost cities of ancient civilizations. One of the most famous lost cities of ancient civilizations Urkesh, the lost city of the Hurrians

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Despite all the information that a person possesses, there are no less secrets in the world. On the contrary, with each new answer, even more riddles appear. What, besides the obvious, does the earth store in itself? And what can you find underwater?

10. The sunken city of Gelika

Everyone knows the legend of the lost world of Atlantis. But unlike the popular myth, there are written testimonies about the city of Gelika, which helped archaeologists to find its location.

The city was located in Achaea, in the north of the Peloponnese. Judging by the mention of Gelika in the Iliad, the city took part in the Trojan War. In 373 BC. NS. it was destroyed by a powerful earthquake and flood.

Despite the fact that the search for the actual location began at the beginning of the 19th century, the place was found only at the end of the 20th century. In 2001, the ruins of a city in Ahea were discovered, and only in 2012, when a layer of silt and river sediments was removed, it became obvious that this was Gelika.

9. Iram multicolored

There is hardly a person who is at least a little unfamiliar with the myths about this ancient city. Troy, otherwise called Ilion, is a fortified settlement in Asia Minor, which was located on the island of Troada off the coast of the Aegean Sea.

During excavations on the Hisarlik hill (Turkey), traces of 9 fortress-settlements that existed in different eras were found. The 7th layer belongs to the era described in the Iliad. In this era, Troy was a large settlement, surrounded by strong walls and high towers. Excavations in 1988 showed that the population of the city in the Homeric era was from 6 to 10 thousand inhabitants, and by the standards of those times these are quite impressive numbers.

Today the ruins of the ancient settlement are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

6. The Lost Temple of Musasir

A bas-relief from the palace of Sargon II depicts the destruction of the Musasir temple

Thanks to advanced remote sensing technologies, Australian archaeologists have made a discovery in Cambodia. They discovered an ancient city that is older than the famous Angkor Wat temple complex.

This city was built 350 years before construction began on Angkor Wat in northwestern Cambodia. It was part of the Khmer Hindu-Buddhist Empire that ruled Southeast Asia from AD 800 to 1400. NS. Research in this area is still ongoing, which means that new discoveries await scientists.

4. The city of the pyramids Karal

Many are convinced that Egypt, Mesopotamia, China and India are the first civilizations of mankind. However, few know that at the same time the Norte Chico civilization existed in Soup, Peru. It is the first known civilization of the Americas. And the sacred city of Karal was its capital.

In 1970, archaeologists discovered that the hills, which were originally identified as natural formations, are stepped pyramids. After 20 years, Caral was fully manifested.

In 2000, an analysis of reed bags that were found during excavations was carried out, and the results were stunning. Analysis showed that Caral dates from the late archaic period - about 3000 BC. NS.

3. Urkesh, the lost city of the Hurrians

The legend of Atlantis tells of a lost world 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 referred to as El Dorado. Spanish conquistador Francisco Orellana is the first to venture along the Rio Negro River 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. The 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 Brazil's 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 Mato Grosso region, in the Amazon rainforest, he found a walled city that resembles ancient Greek.

The manuscript described a lost city with multi-storey 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 illnesses.

One of Percy's routes

In April 1925, he tried one last time 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 a final 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 regard the Aztlan hypothesis as a myth similar to that of 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 map of 1704 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 groups of Nahua: Akolua, Chalca, Mexica, Tepaneca, Tlahuica, Tlaskalan and Xochimilca (sources name 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 Aztec migration 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 say 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 inspire the search for a ghost town.

The search for Eldorado - 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 primordially different, the name has become synonymous with the lost city of gold.

In 1545, the conquistadors Lazaro Fonte and Hernán Pérez de Quesada wanted to drain Lake Guatavita. Gold was found along the shores, which fueled treasure hunters' suspicions 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 were hidden in the depths of the lake. Other searches were also carried out on 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 stunning architecture and effortless opulence. 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 flourished for a thousand years, until it turned 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 its actual location was discovered by archaeologists 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 X-XIV centuries were a golden age for Julfar and Arab long-distance trade, when Arab sailors regularly traveled half the way around the world.

The Arabs swam into European waters long before the Europeans managed to swim across the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf. Julfar has 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 merchants.

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, which was 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.

How many lost cities there are on our planet, no one knows for sure. But those that archaeologists manage to find invariably arouse great interest, both among historians and ordinary lovers of everything unusual. Here are some of the largest Lost Cities.

1. Tikal, Guatemala

Tikal is one of the largest Mayan city-states. It was built in the 7th century BC, and during its heyday its population reached 200 thousand people. The history of Tikal was full of dramatic moments, and after numerous wars and uprisings, people finally left it. It happened at the end of the 10th century, and since then Tikal has remained a ghost town.

2. Ctesiphon, Iraq

In the period from the 2nd to the 7th century, Ctesiphon was the capital of the Parthian kingdom, and then the Sassanian one. The brick buildings of Ctesiphon that have survived to our times amaze the imagination with their magnificence and size.

3. Great Zimbabwe

Great or Great Zimbabwe is called the ruins of an ancient city located on the territory of the South African state of Zimbabwe. According to archaeologists, this city appeared in 1130 and for three centuries was considered the main shrine of the Shona people. Around 18,000 people could live behind the high stone walls of the city. Today, the city walls are one of the most amazing monuments of the Great Zimbabwe. They are built without the use of any mortar and are up to five meters high.

4. Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan

The city related to the Indian civilization with the gloomy name of Mohenjo-Daro (which translates as “Hill of the Dead”) appeared in the Indus Valley on the territory of modern Pakistan more than four and a half thousand years ago. It is a contemporary of the Egyptian pyramids and one of the earliest cities in South Asia. The city flourished for almost a thousand years, but in the end, the inhabitants left it. Archaeologists suggest that the Aryan invasion was to blame.

5. Bagerhat, Bangladesh

This city, standing at the confluence of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, was built in the 15th century. During its heyday, there were 360 ​​mosques here. But after the death of the founder, Bagerhat fell into decay, and it was almost completely swallowed up by the jungle. Today, part of the city has been cleared, and excursions for tourists are held here.

6. Mesa Verde National Park, USA

In the Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado) there are many ruins of ancient cities that were built by the Anasazi Indians in the 6th-13th centuries. The largest building in the park is considered to be the magnificent "Rock Palace", which attracts more than 700 thousand tourists every year. The city was abandoned by the inhabitants around 1300. The reasons why people abandoned their homes are still unclear, but there are speculations that the prolonged drought is to blame.

Vijayanagar was once the capital of a powerful empire that occupied the entire south of the Indian subcontinent. Today, on the site of the City of Victory (this is how the name Vijayanagar is translated) is the village of Hampi. True, here today, in addition to the majestic ruins, there are also many active Hindu temples, including the famous Pampapathi temple, which is even older than Vijayanagar itself.

Ani is the capital of the ancient Armenian kingdom, located on the territory of modern Turkey. Once the population of this ancient city exceeded 100 thousand people, and thanks to the abundance of temples, it was known as the city of 1001 churches. The ruins of many Armenian churches of the XI-XIII centuries and the Seljuk palace have survived to this day. But all these monuments are in a terrible state - homeless people live in them, and on their territory reckless tourists arrange picnics. The authorities do not show due attention to the protection of this historical monument.

The first settlements of people on the territory of this city date back to 3200 BC. In 2000 BC. Thebes had a population of about 40,000, making it the largest city of the time. Thebes retained the status of the largest city in the world until 1000 BC. Even today, the ruins left from their former splendor are amazing. The most famous monuments of Thebes are the Temple of Luxor, the Karnak Temple (which is the largest temple complex in Ancient Egypt) and the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Throughout its long history, Carthage has been the capital of various states. At first it was the Phoenician state, which was also called Carthage. In 146 BC. both the state and the city were completely destroyed by the Romans, but pretty soon the Romans themselves rebuilt Carthage. After the fall of Rome, Carthage became the capital of the Vandal kingdom. The final fall of the great city took place in the 7th century, when the city was destroyed by the Arabs. But still, a lot of ruins, mainly of the Roman period, have survived to our time.

The founder of the magnificent city of Persepolis was the Persian king Cyrus the Great. The city was founded around 560 BC. Over the centuries, the city passed from hand to hand, while maintaining its status as a capital and a great city. But during the Arab conquest, Persepolis was completely reduced to ruins. The most famous monument of the city is the huge Apadana Palace.

It was in this city in the VI century BC. the legendary temple of Artemis was built, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. The city flourished as long as the sea was nearby. But when it receded far from the city walls, trade gradually died out, and with it the magnificent city disappeared, leaving behind only ruins.

In the III-VIII centuries Palenque was of great political and cultural importance for the Mayan civilization. Many magnificent stone buildings dating back to 600-800 years have survived to our time, including the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Cross and the Temple of the Inscriptions. The city fell into disrepair long before the arrival of Columbus, probably as a result of inter-tribal wars.

These two are killed in a volcanic eruption. cities are probably some of the most famous disappeared cities. When August 24, 79 AD the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius began, most of the inhabitants of Pompeii overtook death suddenly, and then the city was completely buried under a multi-meter layer of volcanic ash. The inhabitants of Herculaneum were more fortunate - many of them managed to leave the city before it disappeared under the burning ash.

In ancient times, the city of Petra stood at the crossroads of important trade routes, which brought him untold riches. But over time, the Romans mastered the waterway, which greatly weakened overland trade. Gradually, the inhabitants left the city, and it was swallowed up by the sands of the Arabian Desert. Today, you can see magnificent ancient buildings that have been perfectly preserved.

Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries. Today it is one of the largest historical sites in the world in terms of size. The area of ​​this city-temple is more than 400 square kilometers, and the splendor of the sculptures of its Hindu temples is absolutely amazing.

The name Ciudad Perdida is translated from Spanish as “the lost city”. This city is almost 700 years older than the famous Machu Picchu. In 1972, Ciudad Perdida was accidentally discovered by local tomb robbers. When the trade in archaeological treasures from this city took on a large scale, the Colombian authorities finally got interested, and the city was discovered after a full-scale exploration. In this area, fighting is constantly going on between government forces and various armed groups, so tourists take quite a risk, even setting off on the officially proposed routes, which are guarded by the Colombian military. The road to Ciudad Perdida itself is also quite difficult and requires good physical fitness.

The ancient city of Machu Picchu was awarded the title of New Wonder of the World in 2007. The city appeared around 1440 and flourished until the mysterious and sudden disappearance of all its inhabitants in 1532. The city escaped the attack of the conquistadors and destruction, but for some reason the inhabitants left it.

Chichen Itza is one of the largest cities of the Mayan civilization. It was founded in the 7th century, and in 1194 the inhabitants left it for unknown reasons. The Spanish conquerors destroyed a huge number of Mayan manuscripts, so archaeologists are unable to find out the true reason for the decline of the great city.
Today, crowds of tourists are attracted by the magnificently preserved pyramids and temples of Chichen Itza.

Xanadu is the summer residence of the legendary Mongol Khan Kublai, who is better known in the West as Kubla Khan. In 1275, Marco Polo described this place as a magnificent marble palace adorned with gold. But only ruins have survived to this day.

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People are leaving cities. Cities are emptying, going underground, overgrown and destroyed. From the legendary Troy and the famous Babylon to the city with the telling name of Tikal, hidden today in the impassable jungle.

In 1165 the Spanish traveler Benjamin of Tudel visited Babylon and wrote that the city "is a ruin ...". For a whole millennium, it has been the real capital of the world. It was here that the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon were located, here civilization was born. The city was the capital of the Babylonian kingdom, the center of the empire of Alexander the Great.

After the founding of the Seleucid state in 312 BC, the decline of Babylon began. The mass exodus of residents from there occurred with the transfer of the capital to the city of Seleucia on the Tigris. In 126, Babylon was practically destroyed by the Parthians. On the site of the formerly densely populated areas, there were now ruins, the great Babylon was turning into a Parthian settlement. Life gradually came to naught, people who knew cuneiform and the Babylonian language became less and less.

Machu Picchu

The irony of history: this ancient city, with the determination of the age of which historians still cannot cope, received the status of "New Wonder of the World" in 2007. Machu Picchu is translated as "old peak", it is located on the territory of modern Peru. Presumably, the city existed from 1440 to 1532, when all its inhabitants mysteriously disappeared somewhere. One of the reasons for the exodus, definitely, was the invasion of the Spanish colonialists, but historians are more inclined to believe that Machu Picchu was abandoned for other reasons (for example, religious or astrological) - it was too well preserved.

Machu Picchu keeps its mysteries. For example, this one. Huayna Picchu rises behind its ruins. In the construction of terraces on the rock, the Incas used stone blocks weighing 200 tons. How they were delivered to such a height is still unknown. The Inca wheels did not know.

The ancient Mayan city of Tikal is located in the territory of modern Guatemala. According to researchers, it was founded in the 7th century BC and during its heyday its population reached 100-200 thousand people. "Tikal" from the Mayan language is translated as "a place where the voices of spirits are heard." For nine centuries, from the 10th to the middle of the 19th century, Tikal heard only the voices of spirits, because there were no people there. They left the city at the end of the 9th century. Why they did this, scientists cannot answer to this day. Deserted, Tikal was overgrown with jungle and became a ghost town.

The ruins of Tikal were used as a backdrop during filming of the rebel base in Star Wars, and on December 21, 2012, crowds of tourists greeted the "end of the world" here and caused serious damage to the historical monument. Apparently, for disappointed expectations.

Russian citizen Andrei Aristovich Schliemann (aka Heinrich) was not the first who began to look for the legendary Troy on the Hisarlyk hill, but it was he who won laurels for his discovery.

Scientists continue to argue whether Schliemann found exactly Troy. As the main proof, he presented the so-called "Priam's treasure" to the public. It included approximately 9,000 items. Skeptics almost immediately accused him of the fact that the notorious treasure was collected from finds of different layers.

The fact is that due to its strategic position (frequent wars) and earthquakes, Troy had to be restored more than once, so today Troy as an archaeological site consists of 9 layers belonging to different eras.
According to archaeologists, Troy was deserted in the XIII-XII century BC. Around 1180 BC, Troy suffered severe damage from an earthquake and appears to be on fire. What exactly caused the exodus of the Trojans from the once mighty city (war or natural disasters) is still unknown.

The city of Ani, which today is located on the territory of Turkey, was built by the Armenians; the first mentions of it date back to the fifth century. At the time of its heyday, the city of Ani was called the city of 1001 churches, it was the capital of the Ani kingdom. It was a large, populous metropolis with unique architecture. According to the Arab historian of the 13th century Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, before the destruction of the city by the Turks in 1064, its population reached 1 million, but modern historians are more modest in their calculations and speak of about a quarter of a million inhabitants.

In the XIII century, Ani was first captured by the Seljuks, then the Mongols. Most of the urban population was forcibly resettled inland, many left the once flourishing capital on their own.

The city continued to exist, but its fate was sealed. Ani's fate was settled by the earthquake of 1319. Today the ruins of this city are one of the most valuable cultural monuments.

The settlement becomes "lost" when the inhabitants leave it. This can happen for a number of reasons - wars, natural migrations or natural disasters, but in each case, time in these cities freezes, plunging it into an endless expectation of the moment of exposure. Many of them were found, others were not and acquired the status of mythical. Whether real or mythical, we've compiled a list of ten lost cities that most thrill the imaginations of historians, archaeologists and adventurers.

The City of the Caesars is also known as the City of Patagonia, the Eternal City is a mythical city believed to be located in South America in the region known as Patagonia in the Andes Valley between Chile and Argentina. According to legend, the lost city of the Caesars was founded by shipwrecked Spanish travelers. Although never found, it is described as a wealthy, prosperous city full of gold, silver and diamonds. It is sometimes described as an enchanted city that appears only at certain moments.

Troy

In ninth place in the list of ten lost cities is Troy - the legendary city described in Homer's epic poem The Iliad. It was located on the territory of modern Turkey off the coast of the Aegean Sea, not far from the entrance to the Dardanelles. This well-fortified city has long been considered a myth, until the historian Heinrich Schliemann discovered its remains in 1870.

The Lost City of Z is a city with a complex network of bridges, roads and temples, believed to exist deep in the jungle in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. This mysterious lost city is mentioned in a document known as Manuscript 512, which is kept in the National Library of Rio de Janeiro. The document is 10 pages long and describes in great detail how the Portuguese Juan da Silva Guimaraes visited the Lost City of Z in 1753, but its specific location is not mentioned in the manuscript. In 1925, explorer Fawcett, his son Jack, and Raleigh Rymell went in search of him, and disappeared, as did several other groups looking for this city.

Petra

Petra is an ancient city, the capital of the Nabataean kingdom, located on the territory of modern Jordan in the narrow Siq canyon. It is known for its amazing architecture and was once considered an important trade center. After hundreds of years of prosperity, the city fell into disrepair after an earthquake that partially destroyed the city's infrastructure, as well as after the Roman conquest of the region in 363 AD. NS. As a result, it became an abandoned city, standing for many years in the desert until it was discovered in 1812 by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

El Dorado

Eldorado is a mythical land of precious stones and gold, allegedly located in the jungles of South America. The first attempt to find the lost city of Eldorado was made in 1535 by Sebastian de Belalcazar, the last by Nicholas Rodriguez in 1775-1780. All attempts to find Eldorado were of great importance, since many expeditions paved new paths deep into South America.

Memphis

Memphis is an ancient Egyptian city on the left bank of the Nile. Founded in 3100 BC e, was the capital, as well as the residence of the pharaohs, a major religious, cultural, political and handicraft center of ancient Egypt for many hundreds of years. And it retained its status until the emergence and prosperity of Alexandria and Thebes, after which it fell into decay and gradually collapsed. Now the lost city of Memphis is an open-air museum.

Angkor

Angkor is a region in Southeast Asia that was the center of the Khmer Empire and flourished from about the 9th to the 15th century. It was abandoned after the invasion of the Thai army in 1431. Until the 1800s, when it was found by a group of French archaeologists, the city of Angkor existed in desolation. The ruins of Angkor are located on the territory of the modern Kingdom of Cambodia among the forests in the northern part of Tonle Sap, near the present city of Siem Reap. Each year, the ruins of Angkor are visited by 80,000 - 200,000 tourists, and the Angkor Wat temple is considered one of the largest religious monuments in the world.

Pompeii

Pompeii is a large ancient Roman city buried under a layer of volcanic ash after the eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, 79. It is estimated that Pompeii was inhabited by 20,000 inhabitants and at that time, it was considered one of the main resting places of high Roman society. It was discovered in 1748, after archaeological excavations were carried out at the foot of the volcano. It is known as the best preserved ancient city. It is visited by about 2.5 million tourists annually.

Atlantis is a supposedly legendary island (archipelago or even a continent) and, possibly, an ancient civilization, the location and existence of which has not been found. Atlantis was described by the Greek philosopher Plato as an island-state destroyed by a natural disaster (probably an earthquake or tsunami) about 9000 years before the era in which he lived - that is, around 9500 BC. NS. However, numerous expeditions in attempts to find the lost city have not led to any results.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is the name of an architectural complex in the southern part of the modern state of Peru, built by the Incas in the 15th century. Of all the lost cities that have been discovered and explored, perhaps none is more mysterious than Machu Picchu. In 1532, all of its inhabitants mysteriously disappeared. Machu Picchu was forgotten and was in desolation for almost 400 years until it was discovered by the American explorer Hiram Bingham on July 24, 1911. The Spanish conquistadors never made it to Machu Picchu. This city has not been destroyed. Neither the number of its population, nor the purpose of construction, nor even its real name remains unknown.