34 Lost Cities Forgotten by Time

The site shows what some think are the 34 'top' lost cities, some are not quite cities and some were never completely lost but it a fair list and good look see. If you haven't seen at least 15 of them you are very cool, 10 tending to be cool, 7 somewhat cool, 5 barely cool, 3 borderline not cool, 2 not even allowed to use the word cool, 1 to be pitied and yes not cool, 0 you are an American.

Enjoy!

A website showing what they consider the top 34 'lost' cities

Thanks for that Hans!
What a treat of a world tour that would make. I would love to visit every single one of those places (when the geopolitical situation has somewhat calmed down, I must add)!
I need to spend some more time findinf out about many of these places.
Great stuff

Tikal was the forest setting for "Yavin," in the Star Wars film. Little nerd trivia for ya.

You notice the pics from Tikal is what was used for the rebel base on moon of Yavin-4 in A New Hope?

Tikal


Rebel Base

Very Nice!

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

LMAO I posted it at the same time
GMTA

Sukhothai is one of Thailand’s earliest and most important historical cities. Originally a provincial town within the Angkor-based Khmer empire, Sukhothai gained its independence in the 13th century and became established as the capital of the first united and independent Tai state. The ancient town is reported to have had some 80,000 inhabitants. After 1351, when Ayutthaya was founded as the capital of a powerful rival Tai dynasty, Sukhothai’s influence began to decline, and in 1438 the town was conquered and incorporated into the Ayutthaya kingdom. Sukhothai was abandoned in the late 15th or early 16th century.

In 1976 when America was celebrating 200 years of self rule I was at Ayutthaya sat before some of the ancient temples.. Mind boggling construction.

In this part of the world a paved road can disappear in less than two years with the lush over growth ... I would be willing to bet there are still lost cities and temples all covered with jungle.. or maybe not.. they have preserved writings from long long ago with maps and everything. Anyway S^F thanks for the link.

Movies aren't real.

I don't even like reading captions so much as just taking it in. The people that lived in those places, their hopes and dreams, the bygone history. We can only barely discern what their day to day existence might have actually looked like in those places.

Ghosts of days gone by.

a reply to: HomerinNC

Tikal brings out the Star Wars geek in everyone, lol.

Woohoo! I'm in the 'very cool' club! Unless you meant seen in person, in which case I guess I'm 'to be pitied'.

Thanks for sharing! Now I've got to go do some research on the ones I haven't heard of...

Of those I've been too I can recommend:

Angkor - which is immense

Petra great restaurant at the heart of the ruins.

Pompeii, take a full day and just wander around and also go to Herculaneum which is nearby.

Palmyra - it may be many years before anyone get back to that one

Vijayanagra - meh go to the ghats of Varanasi instead and take a boat down the river at dawn to watch the ceremonies of Hindu burial/cremation.

Troy - not much of a ruin but it was from here (by legend) that Rome was founded, so at one time the basis of Western Civilization was here in conflict.

Great thread, I can't help but feel like there is some untold story or secrets behind these places.. Like maybe there is an overarching theme I am failing to see...still searching for the appropriate symbolism.

originally posted by: nrd101
Great thread, I can't help but feel like there is some untold story or secrets behind these places.. Like maybe there is an overarching theme I am failing to see...still searching for the appropriate symbolism.

Human creativity and a zest for beauty and living?

Great pics fun thread, Vijayanagara was totally unknown to me despite it's obvious importance and size other such as Urgench,Hvalsey,Ani are all new to me they ought to make a lost 100 forgotten cities list.

One of my favorite lost cities Dhar Tichitt because it was concurrent with pre-dynastic Kemet aka Egypt and the rise of the city states of Sumer,this town set the pace for cities in West Africa built by the The Soninke a Mande people, settlements started at 4000yrs b.c peaked at 2000 b.c went into decline about 300 b.c after invaded by ancestors of the Sanhaja reclaimed by the Soninke who built Ghana,the city suffered because the encroaching desert where it now lay in ruins.

Thanks for that link. The one that amazed me was Angkor Wat. It was recently examined using lidar and they discovered it was a staggeringly large city some 4 times larger than the Vatican City. It is an amazing place.

www.bbc.com...

originally posted by: Hanslune
The site shows what some think are the 34 'top' lost cities, some are not quite cities and some were never completely lost but it a fair list and good look see. If you haven't seen at least 15 of them you are very cool, 10 tending to be cool, 7 somewhat cool, 5 barely cool, 3 borderline not cool, 2 not even allowed to use the word cool, 1 to be pitied and yes not cool, 0 you are an American.

Enjoy!

A website showing what they consider the top 34 'lost' cities

Nice list. I've made it a life goal to hit as many ancient and major historical sites as possible. I think I've been to probably 5 or so of these. Top on my list next is Peru, including Machu Pichu.

I agree regarding Varinasi. I spent five days there. The old town on the Ganges river, the temples, and the ceremonies there, are magical. I felt like I had entered a time warp to thousands of years ago.

originally posted by: Hanslune
Of those I've been too I can recommend:

Angkor - which is immense

Petra great restaurant at the heart of the ruins.

Pompeii, take a full day and just wander around and also go to Herculaneum which is nearby.

Palmyra - it may be many years before anyone get back to that one

Vijayanagra - meh go to the ghats of Varanasi instead and take a boat down the river at dawn to watch the ceremonies of Hindu burial/cremation.

Troy - not much of a ruin but it was from here (by legend) that Rome was founded, so at one time the basis of Western Civilization was here in conflict.

a reply to: Hanslune

I must be very cool because I've heard and know something about 17 of them and have visited at least 5 of those. Cool list. Some of those cities i'd never heard of and they looked pretty cool.