Throughout history, explorers, adventurers, and archeologists have spent lifetimes searching for long-lost places, legendary cities, and hidden treasures.
While some of these expeditions have been a success, others were a complete failure. And when it comes down to legendary cities, there’s a thin line diving legend from reality.
Perhaps one of the best-known and widely recognized legendary lost cities is Atlantis, described in Plato’s works, Timaeus and Critias.
In Plato’s story, Athens repels the Atlantean attack, unlike any other nation of the known world, supposedly giving testament to the superiority of Plato’s concept of a state.
The story concludes with Atlantis falling out of favor with the deities and submerging into the Atlantic Ocean.
Throughout the years, numerous explorers claimed to have found Atlantis. The latest claims were made not long ago, and we covered the story on our website.
Despite many people claiming to have found the remnants of the Atlantean capital city, the truth is that Atlantis remains a legend whose true history is perhaps a greater mystery than we’ve ever anticipated.
But Atlantis isn’t the only lost city out there.
One of my personal favorites is the Legendary Lost City of Z.
The story behind this legendary city can be traced back to 1925 when famous explorer and British archaeologist Percy Fawcett was introduced to an adventure hidden deep within the Brazilian Rainforest.
After studying possible locations, Fawcett set out to find the legendary city he dubbed ‘Z.’ According to the British adventurer. The legendary city remained hidden somewhere in the Mato Grosso region in Brazil.
Regrettably, Fawcett never made it back from the expedition, and nothing was ever heard from him.
Shambala is more than just a legendary, lost city. It was a powerful kingdom, sometimes referred to as Shangri-la.
Holding a significant statue in both Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist Traditions, legend has it that Shambala’s kingdom is precisely laid out in an eight-petalled lotus blossom surrounded by massive mountains covered in snow.
Aztlan. One of the grandest legendary, lost cities in the American continent is also the home place of one of Mesoamerica’s most important ancient civilizations.
Aztlan, which is sometimes referred to as the American Atlantis, is the Aztecs’ homeplace. Some people believe that Aztlan was the capital of a powerful civilization that is believed to have inhabited parts of modern-day Mexico before the Spanish Conquest.
Their history tells us that they originated from a place called Aztlan. This legendary city was allegedly located somewhere in Northern America, and some authors even claimed that Aztlan’s remains are located in modern-day Utah.
Aztlan, which means “the land to the North” or ‘the place of whiteness,’ has never been found.
As noted by the Annals of Tlatelolco, the Aztecs’ migration from Aztlan to Tenochtitlan on May 24, 1064, the first year of the Aztec solar calendar.
Another well-known legendary city said to exist somewhere in the American continent is the lost city of El Dorado.
Noted for being an ancient city made entirely of gold, this legendary city motivated many Spanish conquistadores to leave everything behind and travel kilometers through inhospitable terrains in South America, searching for a city that was home to incalculable treasures.
Many explorers searched for El Dorado, including Sir Walter Raleigh and Francisco de Orellana, the first European conqueror to cross the Amazon River. Still, the city and its treasures have never been found.
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. From there, the mighty King fought numerous battles that greatly influenced his life.
And just as with other famous legendary cities, Camelot’s actual location remains a profound mystery, suggesting scholars to believe that just like Atlantis or El Dorado, Camelot is nothing more than the figment of a work of fiction.
Despite this, stories and legends in Great Britain suggest it was a real location associated with a flourishing city.
Lemuria. Another mythological place is said to exist somewhere in the Indian or the Pacific Ocean. Tamil writers have associated it with Kumari Kandam, a mythical lost continent with an ancient Tamil civilization located south of present-day India in the Indian Ocean.
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