The city sank 5,000 years ago but was only discovered in the 20th century, with archaeologists still unraveling its secrets
In Pavlopetri – a small islet across from Elafonissos, in Laconia – there is an ancient state submerged, about 5 thousand years old.
The city sank 5,000 years ago but was only discovered in the 20th century, with archaeologists still uncovering its secrets and treasures.
The sunken state of the Mycenaean Period (last phase of the Bronze Age) was discovered in 1967 by Nicholas Flemming and extends over 9 acres.
At a depth of only 4 meters from the surface of the sea, there are streets, buildings, squares, tombs and all the remains of the city, which have been preserved in a very good condition.
Excavations have shown that the city was the center of a thriving textile industry and a major trading port.
Despite the natural destruction by water over the centuries, the layout of the city is as it was thousands of years ago.
12 years ago, the BBC did a tribute to Pavlopetri, where scientists from the University of Nottingham, with the help of technology, “rebuilt” the city.
How Pavlopetri sank
But what ultimately sent Pavlopetri to the bottom of the sea remains unknown. Some experts believe that it could have been sunk by an earthquake that occurred either around 1000 BC. either in 375 AD – from the same earthquake that destroyed Gythio.
But since the city predates Plato’s allegorical account of Atlantis, many argue that Pavlopetri was the true inspiration for the glittering “lost” continent that still excites our imaginations today.
The Legend of Lost Atlantis
Atlantis is a mythical island that was first heard in Plato’s dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias”, which were written in 360 BC.
In Plato’s description, Atlantis lies beyond the Heraklion Columns (known as the Straits of Gibraltar). However, according to the biography of Apollodorus, Atlantis was located on the southeastern shores of the Black Sea.
According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power that had conquered many parts of western Europe and Africa, about 9,000 years before Solon (About 9,600 BC).
After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis mysteriously sank into the sea “in a single day and night of misfortune.”
According to “Critias”, 9,000 years before Plato, a war broke out between them inside and outside the Heraklion Stelae. Atlantis had conquered parts of Libya as far as Egypt, as well as much of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia, and enslaved their people.
The Athenians led an alliance against the Atlantean empire, and as the alliance weakened, the Athenians stood alone and liberated conquered territories.
“But later there were great earthquakes and floods, and in a single dire day and night all the warriors sank into the earth, and likewise the island of Atlantis was lost in the depths of the sea.”
Source: Skai
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