Lost city is a term that is generally considered to refer to a well-populated area which fell into terminal decline, became extensively or completely uninhabited, and whose location has been forgotten. Some lost cities whose locations have been rediscovered have been studied extensively by scientists. Recently abandoned cities or cities whose location was never in question might be referred to as ruins or ghost towns. The search for such lost cities by European explorers and adventurers in the Americas, Africa and in Southeast Asia from the 15th century onwards eventually led to the development of archaeology.
Lost cities generally fall into two broad categories:
- no knowledge of the city existed until the time of its rediscovery
- location has been lost but knowledge of its existence has been retained in myths, legends, or historical records.
Read more about Lost City: How Cities Are Lost, Rediscovery, Legends
Famous quotes containing the words lost and/or city:
“What was lost in the European cataclysm was not only the Jewish past—the whole life of a civilization—but also a major share of the Jewish future.... [ellipsis in source] It was not only the intellect of a people in its prime that was excised, but the treasure of a people in its potential.”
—Cynthia Ozick (b. 1928)
“Jews do not like the country, yes thank you, christians donot all like the city. Yes and thank you. There are no differences between the city and the country and very likely every one can be daily daily and by that timely.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)