Lost cities range from ancient metropolises swallowed by time or nature, like Pompeii, Herculaneum, Mohenjo-daro, Ani, and Thonis-Heracleion, to legendary places such as Atlantis, El Dorado, or the Lost City of Z, with many others, including Machu Picchu (hidden for centuries) or Pripyat (recently abandoned), lost due to volcanic eruptions, invasions, or environmental shifts, according to Wikipedia and History.com.
Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.
1. Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan. Mohenjo-Daro, hauntingly translated to “Mound of the Dead Men”, was one of the most advanced cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, built over 4,500 years ago in modern-day Pakistan. Its true name is lost to history, as the Indus script remains undeciphered.
Thebes: The Forgotten City. The city of Thebes was central to the ancient Greeks' achievements in politics and culture. For many centuries it has been largely – and often deliberately – forgotten.
Many prehistoric settlements built along the coastlines flooded and were abandoned. The Submerged Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes of the Continental Shelf project has recently counted 2,600 such submerged sites in 19 countries—including the Cosquer cave in Marseille, France, famous for its paintings.
More than 70% of our planet is ocean – and 90% of that ocean is deep sea.
Jericho, West Bank, Palestine
Jericho is another that is arguably the oldest city in the world at around 11,000 years old. It's located in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, and archaeological evidence has documented 23 layers of ancient sites and civilizations there dating back to the 10th millennium B.C.E.
🇨🇳 Chongqing is famously known as “the 5D City”. And yes, it is weird to have a same street level be floor 22 and 25 at the same time in parallel buildings… but at the end of the day it's not as strange as its hyped up to be!
The nickname “Sin City” is most famously associated with Las Vegas, Nevada, due to its casinos, adult entertainment, and a general atmosphere of indulgence.
There's no straightforward answer, though many say that it's the city of Jericho in the Middle East. Athens, too, has been one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities, with 5,000 years of history.
In July 2025, Peruvian archaeologist Dr Ruth Shady unveiled Peñico, a 3,800 year-old city of Peru's ancient Caral civilisation. The newly excavated site features 18 structures, including ceremonial temples and residential compounds.
6 Famous Ghost Towns and Abandoned Cities
Some cities are so top-secret they can't even be found on a map. Others are padlocked, hidden in the forest, or buried deep underground. From Poland's 800-year-old Wieliczka Salt Mines to America's WWII mystery towns, SPYSCAPE explores some of the world's most intriguing secret cities.
Read on to see the 16 greatest cities in human history:
The Forbidden City (Chinese: 紫禁城; pinyin: Zǐjìnchéng) is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China.
The municipality of Chongqing is the only Chinese city with a resident population of over 30 million; however, this number includes its large rural population. In 2020, Chongqing surpassed Shanghai as China's largest municipality by urban population; as of 2024, it had an urban population of 23.01 million.
Well, at the moment, Çatalhöyük is the first known city in the world – the first place where surrounding villages came together and formed a central location and began the sort of urban civilization that dominates the modern world.
Perth, the world's longest city, stretches relentlessly along the western edge of Australia.
Established in 1565 by Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-founded settlement in the continental United States. Its long history is evident in its historic architecture, cobblestone roads, and old landmarks.
Scientists estimate that only about 0.001% of the deep ocean floor has been thoroughly studied. Harsh conditions, extreme pressure, and technological challenges make deep-sea exploration difficult—leaving much of the ocean's mysteries, ecosystems, and species still undiscovered.
Up to 60% of the human adult body is water. According to Mitchell and others (1945), the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.
The whole world will never be underwater. But our coastlines would be very different. If all the ice covering Antarctica , Greenland, and in mountain glaciers around the world were to melt, sea level would rise about 70 meters (230 feet). The ocean would cover all the coastal cities.