Lost Cities

Lost Cities

Atlantis The legend of Atlantis dates back to 360 Bc, when the Greek philosopher Plato first described it. He said it was an advanced nation whose people lived on beautiful islands. According to Plato, Atlantis sank into the ocean “ in a single day and night of misfortune. " People have searched for the city for thousands of years, but it remains lost.

Lost cities are human settlements that became nearly or completely uninhabited. The locations of many of these places have been forgotten. However, these cities have interested people since before Plato wrote about Atlantis, and they continue to spark people's imaginations today. They offer a look into our own ancient past and the promise of new secrets to discover. Atlantis may still hide beneath the ocean waves, but other cities have been found and explored.

The Lost City in the Mountains Machu Picchu, Peru High in the Andes Mountains sits Machu Picchu. Only around one thousand people inhabited the “ Lost City of the Incas" from roughly AD 1450 to 1572. The Incas had no system of writing, so no one is sure what the city was used for or why the people left. Archaeologists still debate whether it was a regular village, a home for the ruler's family, or a religious sanctuary. The Incas constructed the large buildings, walls, ramps, and more than seven hundred terraces without using iron, steel, or wheels! Many local people knew about Machu Picchu, but the city only came to the attention of the world in 1911. A local guide led Hiram Bingham, an American explorer, to the site.

The City Lost Under Ash Pompeii, Italy In AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted for two days, burying the city of Pompeii under 20 feet (6 m) of ash. The city remained covered for almost 1, 700 years before its discovery in 1748. The archaeologists' discoveries amazed people around the world. The layers of ash preserved the city, providing a window into how people lived during the Roman Empire.

Paintings, shops, and all the bits and pieces of people's daily lives remained untouched. The ash even formed casts around the bodies of those who once lived in Pompeii. Since its discovery, only about two-thirds of the city has been uncovered, so archaeologists have many more years of work ahead.