Despite the fact that, as a species, we have managed to explore pretty much every bit of land that exists on this planet, there is still so much around that we know nothing about, especially when it comes to what may lie below us! Not only does this include things that are underground, but deals with things that are underwater as well. There is so much about the ocean we do not yet know about, so it's no surprise that there are ruins waiting under there to be discovered!
With the success of the new Aquaman movie, we thought we would dive into these underground cities, reminiscent of Atlantis and Arthur Curry's home underneath the rest of the world. We can't swim like a fish, but we can definitely imagine that these places once were inhabited more with people like us, and less like him, but who really knows? We do. We know.
What we've done is pulled together some of the most amazing images we could find of places that have been waiting to be discovered underwater.
25 Dwarka - India
"According to folklore, Dwarka is the home town of Lord Krishna, a placed believed to be an old wives tale, a myth, that is until the ruins were discovered 131 feet below the ocean." (Musafir)
It is amazing when myths and folklore are actually found to be true.
It's this sort of thing that makes us remember, sometimes the world can end up being more fantastical than we can actually make up! Yes, no matter what we come up with, there's always a chance the world will manage to surprise us.
24 Titicaca's Pre-Incan Ruins
"As the world’s highest navigable lake, the beautiful Lake Titicaca has long been shrouded in mystery. Even today, locals believe the lake is sacred." (Urban Ghosts Media)
We should obviously be respectful of the different cultures out there, but we should still properly take a look at some of the places people consider sacred.
No matter how sacred these places are, we must see what we can learn from humanity's past from them.
23 Port Royal - Jamaica
"Famed pirates, the likes of Blackbeard would often make Port Royal their base to raid treasure ships. That was until 1692, when an earthquake dragged it under the Caribbean sea." (Musafir) Did anyone else think it was impossible for an entire area of land to be dragged underneath water? It's clearly just our lack of knowledge, our ignorance of these sorts of things, that means our amazement at these sorts of places continues to grow by the minute!
22 How did they get pyramids under the water?
"To make things strange, these pyramids resemble those found in Mexico and Central America. Here's where things get stranger, there are no other underwater structures found in this area." (Musafir) This is the sort of thing that makes people come up with crazy conspiracy theories, because it just feels as if there's no way of accepting that this sort of thing is just a coincidence. What do you think? What is going on here?!
21 Pavlopetri - Greece
"Having sunk 5000 years ago, no one knows what this city was called. Pavlopetri happens to be the modern name given to it. Nobody knows who built this town or which civilization it belonged to." (Musafir) Yet another place that people will be able to create all sorts of conspiracy theories about, seeing as we have no real understanding of the origins of this place. Not only is it underwater, it continues to elude is in so many ways!
20 Seriously, where did it come from?
"If archaeologists are to be believed, it was part of the Minoan dynasty. This town is said to have been ruined due to an earthquake." (Musafir) Even the people who are in the know aren't completely certain of where this place came from?!
It's no surprise that it continues to be interesting to those who find this sort of thing worth looking into.
We say that we should always keep trying to figure out where things originally came from!
19 Villa Epecuén - Argentina
"While all the submerged cities we’ve seen so far have been really ancient ones, this one is as recent as it can get. A thriving community in the 1970s it had around 5000 residents and 300 business." (Musafir) Yes, believe it or not, but we don't have to delve too far into the past to see the sort of things that can come about when water forces itself into this world. It's a lot sadder when it takes down the homes of people who are still alive though...
18 A ghost town
"But in the late 1980s and early 1990s it sank beneath the waters of the lake Lago Epecuen. In 2009, some of the water receded, giving a glimpse into the ghost town." (Musafir)
Imagine the sort of things we may find if the water around us started to recede even further from the land?!
Can we ever truly know what is and is not hiding beneath us every single day that we're walking around on this planet?
17 The City Of Thonis-Heracleion
"Once situated on the northern coast of Egypt and established as one of the most important port cities of the Mediterranean, this lost underwater city has been sitting at the bottom of the sea that it once served." (Urban Ghosts Media)
It's important to remember that no matter how important somewhere is, it won't always be that way.
The waters are rising, so it shouldn't be a surprise that one day some of our ports will be underwater ruins!
16 a lost trading center
"Artifacts brought to the surface indicate the ancient city was once a massive trading center and bustling port city. More than 60 ancient shipwrecks have been found in the immediate area." (Urban Ghosts Media)
To think that people will manage to find more than one thing in these underwater ruins is amazing isn't it?
They first see the ruins, which is very quickly followed by them discovering what waits within those ruins!
15 Ancient City Of Baiae
"It was the playground of the elite, the rich and the famous, the site of permanent vacation homes for people like Julius Caesar and Nero." (Urban Ghosts Media)
To think that there was a time when the most important people in the world would travel to this place to relax, and yet it's now stuck at the bottom of the ocean.
We can only wonder at what this could've possibly looked like years ago!
14 City In The Gulf Of Cambay
"In 2002, the ruins of another ancient underwater city were found in India’s Gulf of Cambay. Resting beneath almost 40 meters of water, they were found quite accidentally by an organization conducting a study of water pollution." (Urban Ghosts Media) We keep going on about it, but this quote proves that there are so many things we don't know about underneath us, that people can actually end up accidentally stumbling upon them.
13 Take a boat to the dive site
"Now, the ruins of Baiae form an archaeological dive site, where visitors can take a boat tour above the ruins of the or scuba dive among them." (Urban Ghosts Media)
Yes, where people would once go to vacation, people can now go on their own vacation!
If you want to explore the underwater world, but want something a little more interesting than just fish and coral reef, then this is where you need to head on your travels.
12 Atlit Yam
"Atlit-Yam is the name given to the site of several lost Neolithic settlements found along the Carmel coast. The sprawling underwater site includes ancient stone wells, the foundations of homes and other buildings, and ancient roads." (Urban Ghosts Media) Amazing to think that we may be able to learn about human life thousands of years ago just by finding where and how they used to live all that way under the water.
11 A city under a city
No matter what we may find, no matter how smart we are, there's always a chance that these places will continue to baffle us.
"The ruins were found beneath the surface of modern-day Dwarka. The complexities and the beauty of this city, has baffled even experts." (Musafir)
It's an important reminder that, whether we like it or not, there are things about this world that none of us will ever fully understand.
10 The rulers of the sea
"Made of 4 forts and 2000 buildings, in the 17th century Port Royal was a place of pirate activity." (Musafir)
To think that there was a time when this now underwater city would be overrun by the very people that ruled the sea at the time.
Now, it lies underneath their natural habitat, where they probably ended up as well in the end!
9 Japanese Pyramids
"These pyramids that lie underwater are fraught with mystery. Experts argue as to whether these pyramids are man made or a naturally occurring phenomenon." (Musafir)
If you're anything like us, you thought that the Pyramids only existed in Egypt, so it's amazing to learn that there are some of them underwater.
Let's all just remember that, just because somewhere is famous for something, doesn't mean it's the only place with one of them.
8 Pyramids Of Yonaguni Jima - Japan
We know that there are a lot of things out there that were created long before we were born, but we don't often take into consideration how long these places have been!
"These structures were made during the last ice age, around 10,000 BC." (Musafir)
We don't think that we will ever end up visiting somewhere that has been around on the planet for this long. If we do, we'll be too scared to touch anything!
7 Lion City - China
"As far as the most stunning underwater city is concerned, China’s lion city is miles ahead than the rest. Over 1400 years old, it was built during the Han dynasty and spans the area of 62 football fields." (Musafir) If we're honest, we would find anywhere with these sorts of lions pretty magic, but the fact that they're found underwater just adds to the beauty. Imagine being one of the first people to stumble on this sort of thing while swimming around?
6 Phanagoria was found in the Black Sea
"Phanagoria is the largest Greek city that now sits on Russian soil. Located on the Black Sea, it was founded in the 6th century BC and, today, about a third of the city lies underwater, earning its nickname the Russian Atlantis." (Urban Ghosts Media) This is quite possibly our favorite image in this list, as it shows how the underwater world has completely taken over what was once an important area on the planet.