Lost City

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.