1. Skara Brae, Scotland
More a village than a city, this prehistoric set of ruins in Orkney is of a small farming settlement over 5000 years old. It was discovered in 1850 after a wild storm revealed the stone remnants. Excavations (and more storms) showed the village had at least eight stone cottages, complete with beds, hearths and shelves. It seems erosion brought the village closer to the sea, until it was abandoned and left to the enshrouding sands for four millennia.
2. Babylon, Iraq
Babylon, settled around 2500 BC, became a great centre of the Mesopotamian world 500 years later, when Hammurabi, the first king of the Babylonian empire, made it his capital. It was destroyed in the 6th century BC by the Assyrians, and then left to fall into ruin in the 2nd century BC, following the death of Alexander the Great. The ruins of Babylon conjure images of a biblical past: the great Tower of Babel; the beautiful hanging gardens…and there’s that certain disco song that just won’t leave your head…
3. Taxila, Pakistan
Founded by an ancient Indian king sometime around the 7th century BC, Taxila (or Takshashila) is a tale of three lost cities. The first was built on a hill, later known as Bhir Mound. In an Old Testament–style confusion of begats and political intrigue, the city was lost to a new Taxila, known as Sirkap, built by Greek invaders. It enjoyed a period of significance in the world of philosophy and the arts, which continued under the Kushans, who took over and refounded Taxila as Sirsukh. Eventually, the city was lost to the Huns in the 6th century, who destroyed it and left it in ruins. Visit the site today, about 30km northwest of Islamabad. The Taxila Museum houses all manner of artefacts, which help you get a feel for the complex history of this once-great city.
4. Dunwich, England
Here was a town basking in glory, a major seaport and one of the largest cities in medieval Britain, said to have been the capital of East Anglia – but all built on sand. In the late 13th century a storm blew in, demolishing a good part of the town. Coastal erosion chipped in and before you could say ‘cursed city’, only a few cottages remained (actually, a few hundred years passed as the town slipped into the ocean). Tales of haunted beaches abound, and at low tide you might well hear the muted tolling of church bells beneath the waves.
5. Palenque, Mexico
At the foot of the Chiapas mountains in southwestern Mexico, Palenque is an archaeologist’s treasure trove. The city appears to have existed at least since 100 years BC. Five hundred years later it became a major population centre of Classic Mayan civilisation, complete with myth and legend: child kings, invasions, decapitations, court intrigue and finally the abandonment of the city.
6. Angkor, Cambodia
Crumbling stone temples in the python grip of jungle vines, a flash of turmeric-coloured robes disappearing into the alcoves of ancient temples. Angkor has its fair share of tourists, but its size means you’ll easily find a place to get lost in the distant past. The greater city was enormous, new research suggesting it covered 3000 sq km. Built by a succession of Khmer god-kings from AD 900 to 1200, it had a population close to one million, and was the capital of the Khmer empire. It’s been suggested that climate change (affecting water supply) caused the city to be abandoned some 500 years ago.
7. Wittenoom, Australia
Way out west, in the desert-dominated state of Western Australia, you’ll find a town if not fully lost, so close to being a ghost as makes no difference. Officially no longer a town, and not receiving government services, this place supported an asbestos-mining industry until the mid-1960s, when health concerns over the lung-clogging stuff spelt its demise. A handful of residents remain but it’s tough going. Some may know of it in theory (it was made famous by Australian band Midnight Oil’s hit ‘Blue Sky Mine’); it’s located a long (1100km!) drive north from the state’s capital, Perth. A lonely drive to a very lonely place.
Karijini National Park, with red rock formations, deep gorges and enticing swimming holes, might just make this epic drive worthwhile.
8. Darwin, California, USA
Darwin, like many thousands of towns in late-19th-century USA, sprung up on the back of a lucky strike, in this case, of silver. But these are flash-in-the-pan places – the town became derelict just four years from its settlement in 1878, as prospectors leapt on to the next lucky strike. It was revived in the early 20th century as copper became a commodity. You might bump into a resident today, though chances are it’ll be tumbleweed caught on a desert wind.
The edge of Death Valley seems an appropriate place to visit the remnants of a Wild West town, so grab a bottle of whisky for the picnic as you head out. There’s only one lonely road to this ghost town, spurring from State Highway 190, 75km southwest of Stovepipe Wells.
9. Herculaneum, Italy
Like nearby Pompeii, Herculaneum was lost to a river of Vesuvian lava and ash in AD 79. An upper-class town, home to members of the imperial family, it was uncovered about 250 years ago and remains a treasure trove for archaeologists. The pyroclastic flow that enveloped the city carbonised organic matter, preserving structures and human bodies. Most enticing, though, are the hundreds of scrolls found in the Villa of the Papyri, texts from the only ancient library to have survived into modern times.
10. Carthage, Tunisia
It’s never enough for a great city to be destroyed only once. After 900 years exerting power in North Africa and southern Europe, Carthage succumbed to the wrath of the Roman Empire (needled for so long by the elephant-led armies of Hannibal). Later rebuilt by the Romans and raised to new glory, it once again found itself at the nexus of conflict and was destroyed by Arab Muslims expanding their own sphere of control. Today, on the outskirts of Tunis, you can visit the crumbling remains of Roman baths, temples and villas being absorbed by the sprawl of the capital city.
11. Machu Picchu, Peru
A pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”, it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.
12. Bagan, Burma
An ancient city in the Mandalay Division of Burma. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana (the City of the Enemy Crusher) and also known as Tambadipa (the Land of Copper) or Tassadessa (the Parched Land), it was the capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma. It is located in the dry central plains of the country, on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 90 miles (140 km) southwest of Mandalay.
13. Chan Chan, Peru
The largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, Chan Chan is an archaeological site located in the Peruvian region of La Libertad, five km west of Trujillo.Chan Chan covers an area of approximately 20 km² and had a dense urban center of about 6km². Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimú), a late intermediate period civilization which grew out of the remnants of the Moche civilization. The vast adobe city of Chan Chan was built by the Chimu around AD 850 and lasted until its conquest by the Inca Empire in AD 1470. It was the imperial capital of the Chimor until it was conquered in the 15th century. It is estimated that around 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan.
14. Petra, Jordan & Palmyra, Syria
Two of the most beautiful and diverse countries in the Middle East, Syria and Jordan have much to offer. This two week tour will explore the highlights of both countries, starting in historic Damascus; the oldest continually inhabited city in the world and ending in Amman, famed for its enchanting mixture of old and new. En route we will visit the ancient city of Aleppo; the impregnable Crusader castle at Krak des Chevaliers; the immense ruins of Palmyra and Jerash; and possibly the highlight, the magical city of Petra. Here we will have two full days, allowing us enough time to explore this truly magnificent ancient city. But it’s not just history that we go to see. We also camp amongst the amazing landscape of Wadi Rum, float in the salty waters of the Dead Sea and wander through the atmospheric souks of Damascus.
15. Cappadocia, Turkey
An area in Central Anatolia in Turkey best known for its unique moon-like landscape, underground cities, cave churches and houses carved in the rocks. The relief consists of a high plateau over 1000 m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks, with Mount Erciyes (ancient Argaeus) near Kayseri (ancient Caesarea) being the tallest at 3916 m. The boundaries of historical Cappadocia are vague, particularly towards the west. To the south, the Taurus Mountains form the boundary with Cilicia and separate Cappadocia from the Mediterranean Sea. To the west, Cappadocia is bounded by the historical regions of Lycaonia to the southwest, and Galatia to the northwest.
16. Didyma, Turkey
An ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means “twin”, but the Greeks who sought a “twin” at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name. Next to Delphi, Didyma was the most renowned oracle of the Hellenic world, first mentioned among the Greeks in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo,but an establishment preceding literacy and even the Hellenic colonization of Ionia. Mythic genealogies of the origins of the Branchidae line of priests, designed to capture the origins of Didyma as a Hellenic tradition, date to the Hellenistic period.
17. La Ciudad Perdida, Colombia
The archaeological site of an ancient city in Sierra Nevada, Colombia. It is believed to have been founded about 800 AD, some 650 years earlier than Machu Picchu. This location is also known as Buritaca and the Native Americans call it Teyuna.
Ciudad Perdida was discovered in 1972, when a group of local treasure looters found a series of stone steps rising up the mountainside and followed them to an abandoned city which they named “Green Hell” or “Wide Set”. When gold figurines and ceramic urns from this city began to appear in the local black market, authorities revealed the site in 1975.
18. Meroë, Sudan
An ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah. This city was the capitol of the Kingdom of Kush for several centuries. The Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë gave its name to the Island of Meroë, which was the modern region of Butana, a region bounded by the Nile (from the Atbarah River to Khartoum), the Atbarah, Ethiopia, and the Blue Nile.
19. Tikal, Guatemala
One of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala’s Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tikal is the best understood of any of the large lowland Maya cities, with a long dynastic ruler list, the discovery of the tombs of many of the rulers on this list and the investigation of their monuments, temples and palaces.
20. Borobudur, Indonesia
Is a 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of Buddhist cosmology, namely Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). During the journey the monument guides the pilgrims through a system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the balustrades.
21. Nan Madol, Temwen Island Federated States of Micronesia
As a ruined city that lies off the eastern shore of the island of Pohnpei that was the capital of the Saudeleur dynasty until about AD 1500. It is in the present day Madolenihmw district of Pohnpei state, in the Federated States of Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean. The city consists of a series of small artificial islands linked by a network of canals. The site core with its stone walls encloses an area approximately 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide and it contains nearly 100 artificial islets—stone and coral fill platforms—bordered by tidal canals.
There far too many place to list but we can also have a look at:
Rhyolite in nevada (ghost town)
Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, northern New Mexico
Tula, Hidalgo
Chichen Itza, Mexico
Places to go and lost cities you have to visit are countless. And life is short! Make the best of it!
🙂
Onyxias mind 