12+ Underwater Cities You Never Knew Existed

Pyramids Of Yonaguni Jima...

Image Source: Reddit

First up, in Japan are the pyramids of Yonaguni Jima, which have been carbon-dated to have been put up during the last of the Earth Ice Age, around 10,000 BC! That's almost not comprehensible to me but is certainly long enough ago that it's an absolute mystery as to how they got there and are still around!

Villa Epecuén!

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This one, unlike our first city, is a very recent city, so much so that in the 1970s Villa Epecuén had five thousand residents and over three-hundred businesses! As time went on, into the late 1980s and throughout the 90's the city slowly got submerged by the lake Lago Epecuén!

Mulifanua Site!

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This next one is over 5000 years old and was discovered off of the Samoan Island Upolu! This one is peculiar because even though the actual site has not yet been found, enough pottery and debris from human-made structures have been found to prove that there is an underwater city!

Port Royal...

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Off the coast of Jamaica, this underwater city is famed because it is the place where pirates such as Blackbeard would have stopped off and prepared to raid and plunder ships! Until 1962, when it was dragged underneath the Caribbean Sea by an earthquake!

Thonis-Heracleion!

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Off the coast of Egypt, Thonis-Heracleion used to be known as the most important port city in the whole of the Mediterranean Sea! It used to be the key trading center, and many artifacts have been found after being brought to the surface around the old city. More than 60 shipwrecks have also been found in the immediate area.

Lion City!

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Lion City is found in China and is covered in Majestic Lion Sculptures... hence the name! Lion City is commonly regarded as the most stunning and beautiful underwater city and it's not hard to see why! The majestic city is certainly one for the bucket list if exploring underwater cities is your thing!

Titicaca's Pre-Incan Ruins...

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Underneath the world's highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca, this city is completely shrouded in mystery. Many locals believe that the beautiful lake is sacred and so also believe that the lost city underneath was also sacred! Many of the local people take offense at travelers exploring the lake.

Pavlopetri!

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Having sunk over 5000 years ago, nobody knows the original name of this sunken city, and so Pavlopetri is the name given to this mysterious place in more recent times! The city is in Greece, but nobody knows who built this city or which civilization it inhabited!

Olous...

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This sunken city is off the coast of Crete, and once upon a time inhabited between 30,000 and 40,000 residents! The reports say that this city was once one of the most beautiful places in Greece and letting it go underwater was completely the fault of humans, which is really a shame!

Dwarka...

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For years, many Indians believed that Dwarka was nothing but legend and folklore until the ruins of the old city were found 131 feet underneath the ocean. Dwarka is said to be the hometown of Lord Krishna who is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and is also a complete God in his own right.

Shicheng!

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Underneath the waters of Lake Quiandao in China, Shicheng is the ruins of cities and towns of two regions that were called Chun'an and Sui'an. The towns were submerged in 1957 when the government decided to build a hydroelectric power station in that area. The old city is filled with sculptures of old mythical creatures!

Ruins Of Baiae!

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Once a very popular holiday destination, after being submerged, this old city remains a super popular holiday destination, but for a completely different reason! The ruins form an archeological dive site where visitors can take boat tours above the ruins or scuba dive among them!

Lost Villages Of Ontario...

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The lost villages encompass a total of 10 Canadian towns! They were submerged after the construction of a waterway in 1958 and to this day you can see buildings and sidewalks that once made up these inhabited towns! There is a museum you can visit that encapsulates what life was like before they were flooded!

Phanagoria!

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This city was found in the black sea and now sits on Russian soil! This city has been given the nickname the Russian Atlantis and was founded in the 6th Century BC. Today, about a third of the city lies underwater and the rest does not. This used to be the largest Greek city that stood on Russian soil.

Yonaguni...

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Absolutely steeped in controversy and mystery, these statues and monuments are dubbed Japan's Atlantis! Deep underwater, shapes that seem to be precisely and accurately made by humans have been carved into stone. However, these have been dated back thousands and thousands of years... spooky!

Gulf Of Cambay...

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Whilst conducting a water pollution study, this city was discovered, completely by accident in 2002. The scientists conducting this study couldn't believe what they saw when they stumbled upon this ancient underwater city in the Gulf of Cambay in India!

Baia!

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This city is famously known as the Las Vegas of Ancient Rome! It is where Romans would flock to gamble, among other... activities. Due to volcanic activity, this once bustling city sank to 20 feet under the ocean just off of Naples. The city's infrastructure has remained in great condition and many people explore it by snorkeling and diving.

Atlit-Yam...

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Along the Carmel Coast, Atlit-Yam is the name given to several Neolithic settlements that have been lost underwater. The site includes ancient homes, settlements, wells, roads, and other buildings! This site dates back about 6000 years from our present time!

Doggerland!

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In ancient times, Doggerland was the name given to the place where the Mesolithic tribes lived, in the North Sea. About 20,000 years ago this was a continuous piece of land that joined England and Europe, and many people lived here. Now, underwater, Doggerland is known as the English Channel.

Lago Di Vagli!

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At the bottom of a beautiful lake in the Tuscan countryside, there is said to be a medieval village that takes on the legend of Brigadoon! Brigadoon is a mythical Scottish village that is said to be visible for one day every hundred years. This was all urban legend until when the lake was drained for maintenance a small village slowly revealed itself at the bottom, leaving the locals in shock.

Sant Romá De Sau...

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In the Osona region in Catalonia, Spain, there is an old village that is entirely submerged in water except for the spike at the top of the church of the village when the reservoir is not at full capacity. Every so often, during droughts, you can go and explore the village as the reservoir runs out of water.

Derwent!

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Another village submerged by a reservoir is the quaint English town of Derwent. When work began on the Ladybower Reservoir it became clear that this town would be submerged. During dry hot summer, it is possible to take a stroll through the village, which is now, rather eery.

Mahabalipuram...

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Another Indian sunken city is Mahabalipuram. Found 60 km south of Chennai, it is a site of a group of monuments that are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This site was only discovered because of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. As the tide went out more than usual the lost city revealed itself and was seen for the first time.

Muang Badan...

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Muang Badan is another city lost underwater due to construction! When Vajiralongkorn Dam was built over Khao Laem Lake in Thailand in 1984, the water that was displaced flooded and submerged the town of Muang Badan, unfortunately not on purpose. It even submerged a Buddhist temple which is now known as the sunken temple.

Mediano!

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Mediano is another reservoir that has a half-submerged city underneath the surface. The reservoir was opened without warning, and as it started to flood the inhabitants of this city had to quickly escape! All of the buildings have disappeared since except for the bell tower of the town.

Kalyazin...

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Kalyazin used to be an important commercial center in Russia, but after the revolution of 1917, it became less so. As that happened the population dropped off, stopped preventing the overflow of the Úglich reservoir and it started to flood. Now the Cathedral is the only building that rises high above the water.

Simena!

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4000 years ago Simena was a bustling port in Turkey, but in more recent times it lies beneath the waters of the beautiful island of Kekova. The Lycian civilization lived here and is said to be the first civilization to practice a democratic system that has inspired democracy today.

Canudos!

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Canudos is a small and quiet town in Brazil that was flooded very untimely. As the story goes, there was a preacher that was planning and organizing an uprising against the poor government at the time, but that was spoiled after the town was suddenly flooded scattering the uprisings.

Tyno Helig...

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Known as Wales' Atlantis, this city is part legend and part history! The tale goes; a common man lied to win the love of a princess, then murdered a nobleman who found out about this. Now cursed, the castle they lived in flooded and killed the man who lied and his lover the princess!

Willow Grove!

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A once thriving town, Willow Grove had everything from a great church to one of the best schools in the area! However, after the war the government realized it was a beautiful place and started to build damns, flooding the picturesque town. It now sits at the bottom of a crystal-clear lake.