“Sin City” Port Royal, Jamaica
Built in 1518 with 4 forts and 2,000 buildings, the city of Port Royal is a bustling commercial center of the Caribbean, as well as the seat of British government in Jamaica. In the seventeenth century, Port Royal was one of the most famous “sin cities” in the world for its night-and-day revelry. Famous pirates like Blackbeard often used Port Royal as a base to raid cargo ships. In 1692, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake caused this bustling port city to be swallowed by a tsunami into the Caribbean Sea, killing more than 2,000 people. Legend holds that this was nature’s punishment for the city’s sins.
Now, when diving at a depth of more than 12 meters, admiring the works that evoke the beauty of the past, visitors can meet many researchers who are still trying to uncover the mysteries of Port Royal. If you’re lucky, you might even find leftover pirate treasures here…
Shicheng – China’s Atlantic
Thien Dao Lake with many different large and small islands is an attractive destination for tourists thanks to its majestic natural landscape. More specifically, the lake bed also hides a large ancient city with mysterious massive architecture that has existed for more than a thousand years.
Thien Dao Lake
The ancient city located deep below Tiandao Lake called Shicheng is located in Shun’an, Zhejiang, built in the 2nd century during the Eastern Han Dynasty. This ancient city was built during the Han Dynasty and spread over an area of 62 football fields.
The vestiges of the Su Thanh Gate still retain the architectural integrity
Shicheng had more than 1,300 years of history before being buried under the water of Tiandao Lake in 1959, when the government built a lake to supply hydroelectric power stations in the Xi’an River. Since then, the magnificent Su Thanh with long-standing architectures such as citadel, houses, temples, and streets has been buried deep in the lake bottom.
A lion statue was found inside the citadel, a characteristic symbol of Eastern culture
In 2001, scientists with modern scientific equipment gradually carried out expeditions and researches on Su Thanh. According to the announcements, the ancient city was built with a wall around it, with 4 gates for travel. Inside the citadel are streets, houses, and large towers located in the center of the city. In addition, the houses often have lion statues and elaborately carved dragon sculptures, exuding mysterious beauty. These are the cultural values to attract many tourists.
So far, researchers have not been able to lift the veil of mystery surrounding this construction, but Shicheng, considered the “city of Atlantis” in China, has become one of the famous destinations. .
Today, Shi Thanh almost retains its original appearance before being submerged, almost undamaged by water. Zhejiang province is implementing an underwater tourism project to attract more tourists to visit and explore.
Dwarka, India
According to folklore, the ancient city of Dwarka is said to be the home of Lord Krishna (the eighth incarnation of Vishnu) with nearly 70,000 palaces made of gold, silver, precious stones and other precious building materials. Dwarka’s wealth was maintained until the death of Lord Krishna. Ruins of this mythical land, discovered in 2000, sunk deep on the ocean floor in Cambay Bay (also known as Khambhat), Dwarka city, Gujarat state, western India. Scientists believe that the Dwarka sank into the deep sea after a violent earthquake, because the area is located in an area with high earthquake risk.
View of the foot of the remaining temple of the ancient city of Dwarka
Ruins spread 9 kilometers along the banks of an ancient river belonging to a dam the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, collapsed stairs reminiscent of the great Mohenjo-Daro bathhouse of the Ganges civilization, and many Building foundations, ventilation systems, roads, tools, ornaments, fragments of semi-precious stones, ivory…
The structural complexity of the city has baffled experts in the study
Dwarka is considered a valuable archaeological treasure, so it is always studied and discovered by researchers about the history of formation and life of the people in ancient Dwarka. According to research, the ancient city of Dwarka was built and completed between 9,000 years and 12,000 years ago, estimated under King Pallava around the 7th century BC. Today, the ruins of the ancient city of Dwarka still attract many archaeologists to study and tourists to explore.
Yonaguni Jima Pyramid, Japan
Are the Yonaguni Jima pyramids in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan dating back to 10,000 BC are the creations of man or nature? For many years, researchers around the world still maintain endless debates because of disagreement about the origin of this underwater city. They have only come to the conclusion that these structures were created during the last ice age, around 10,000 BC.
In 1985, Kihachiro Aratake, a tourist diving organizer, decided to find out the truth about local fishermen’s rumors about a palace sunk deep in the southernmost waters of Yonaguni Island. And he found many sandstone blocks 75 m long, 25 m high, located at a depth of 10 m, about 40 km from the coast, shaped very much like the pyramids of Native Americans or the tower building used as a building. temple with many overlapping floors like in Babylon.
After the discovery, Kihachiro Aratake informed the local government, which began to attract archaeologists to study Yonaguni. Accordingly, this ancient site is said to be the remains of an ancient civilization in the Stone Age when people still used stone tools and hieroglyphs.
Taking part in scuba diving trips in Yonaguni, visitors can watch corals, observe colorful ocean creatures, and explore the Yonaguni Jima pyramid area with paths and stairs.. reminiscent of a splendid palace or temple in the past.
After diving to a depth of 10 m, visitors will encounter stone blocks sculpted into stairs with square angles. Seen from above, Yonaguni is likened to the foundation of the pyramids in Egypt. Around are paths formed by cliffs in different layers. Currently, the ancient ruins of Yonaguni are still being researched and solved by scientists.
Antirhodos – part of Alexandria, Egypt
The underwater city of Antirhodos is known as part of the modern Egyptian city of Alexandria. Antirhodos was discovered by archaeologists in 1998 after studying a part of the land that was sunk into the sea of the city of Alexandria. More than 140 artifacts collected from excavations reveal a glorious past of Egyptian civilization. Archaeologists said they had discovered Cleopatra’s tomb in the temple of Isis sunk with the above works.
The ruins of Alexandria in the deep sea
According to archaeologists, the city of Alexandria was built and founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, on the east coast of Egypt. Since its founding, Alexandria has quickly become one of the busiest cities of Egypt and the Mediterranean region. The city is built modern with residential quarters, massive architectural buildings, the palace of Queen Cleopatra and her lovers, the temple of Isis and the library of Serapis. Most especially, no one does not know the lighthouse of the city of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world civilization.
Statue of Queen Cleopatra
According to historians, earthquakes and tsunamis more than 1,500 years ago caused part of the ancient city of Alexandria to sink deep into the sea. Over time the ancient land of Egypt was forgotten under the ocean until the nineteenth century, scientists began to learn and study in depth about ancient Egypt and its queen Cleopatra.
The statue of Pharaoh is still intact
Today, when scuba diving and exploring Antirhodos, you will easily see bronze statues of famous ancient figures as well as vestiges of Cleopatra’s palace, the temple of Isis, all of which have high historical value. According to the tourism business, this place will be a popular destination for scuba diving in the future when many artifacts remain intact despite the time spent under the sea.
Recently, the Egyptian government has planned to turn this ancient city into a museum and tourist itineraries here are also being promoted.
Pavlopetri, Greece
Just diving to a depth of about 4 meters between Pouda beach and Pavlopetri island in Laconia, southeastern Peloponnese, Greece, you can see houses, large and small streets, squares and even a cemetery still standing. quite intact of the Bronze Age port city Pavlopetri lying dormant in the water.
Pavlopetri was discovered by Nicholas Flemming in 1967. No one knows the name of this city. Pavlopetri is the name later given to the citadel. Archaeologists believe that this place is part of the Minoan dynasty that was destroyed by the earthquake. The ancient citadel of Pavlopetri was once one of the most prosperous cities of the Mediterranean region, built in a modern architectural style almost similar to today’s and was planned according to each street, separate living quarters, Roman temples.
According to them, it seems that Pavlopetri was abandoned in the 8th century due to sea level rise and is the oldest submerged city in the world as the artifacts date back to at least 2,800 BC. Currently, Pavlopetri is an underwater cultural heritage of UNESCO. Therefore, this work is still protected and preserved by the city in accordance with regulations. Currently, the city of Peloponnese is also open to tourists to visit and explore the ancient ruins of Pavlopetri.
Baiae, Ý
Baiae Citadel was once known as the Las Vegas of the ancient Roman Empire. The city is currently located off the Gulf of Naples, Italy and about 240 km from Rome. Baiae was founded around the beginning of the 7th century BC with many castles, amusement parks, and busy streets. In particular, according to many records about the ancient city of Baiae, many famous historical figures in ancient times such as Caesar the great, the tyrant Nero, the philosopher Cicero… had come here, proving the superiority of Baiae. compared with Capri, Pompeii and Herculaneum in its status as a resort city for the Roman nobility.
The palace floor is paved with unique patterns of Baiae city
Baiae’s heyday ended in the 8th century, when the Saracen occupation left it desolate. After many earthquakes caused by volcanic activity, Baiae sank deep into the Gulf of Naples.
Today, the remains of the ancient city of Baiae under the ocean are not many but still attract a large number of tourists to explore. Visitors can easily see some of the castle’s Roman columns and intricately patterned paved streets right from the boat on clear blue sea days. Countless other monuments such as statues dating from the 1st century BC, daily items of ancient inhabitants… are only a few meters below the sea surface.
As you dive deeper, visitors will see statues of the gods, statues of Ulysses and Octavia Claudia, the sister of Emperor Claudius, mostly intact. The sculptures are replicas of statues on the ocean floor and part of the artifacts are on display at the Campania Archaeological Management Institute.
Currently, itineraries to visit this underwater city have been introduced to visitors by local travel companies.
