There is a theory that the Greek island of Santorini was part of Atlantis. How can an island in the Mediterranean have anything to do with a continent in the Atlantic Ocean, you might think? According to legend, the east coast of Atlantis reached the shores of Spain and Africa, and the west coast extended to the Caribbean and the Yucatan Peninsula. The Bermuda Triangle and the Sargasso Sea were also parts of Atlantis. Several islands adjoined the continent, one of which was Santorin, in much the same way as Catalina is adjacent to the coast of California (only Santorin was further from Atlantis than Catalina was from the coast of California).

Plato's two dialogues "Timaeus" and "Critias" are the only written sources of that time that speak of Atlantis. . This dialogue is written in the form of a conversation between Socrates, Hermocrates, Timaeus and Critias, in which Timaeus and Critias tell Socrates about the social structures known to them. This conversation may confirm that the Greek island of Santorini was part of Atlantis.

The dialogue tells of a conflict between the Atlanteans and the Athenians, which took place some 9,000 years before Plato's time. It is clear that no records remain from those days, especially about Atlantis. Some fragments of the works of Aristotle have been preserved, but the full text of the works of this great master has not survived to this day.

Many of the works of that time were destroyed during the fire in the Alexandria Library, but even they provided limited information, because much of the information was transmitted by oral tradition. (It is refreshing that we have full confidence in the Bible in that it relies on pre-literate oral tradition, but when it comes to

Atlantis or Lemuria, skeptic scientists immediately appear ...)

The continent of Atlantis appeared about 500,000 years ago, its civilization reached its peak about 15-12 thousand years ago. Unlike Lemuria, whose culture contributed to the development of spirituality, Atlantis was a continent of sciences, arts and technology. And if Lemuria was destroyed as a result of the natural processes of mother nature, the intellectual Atlanteans themselves destroyed their home as a result of experiments in the field of atomic energy and nuclear physics.

As a result of such experiments with electromagnetic energy, the continent disappeared under water, and most of the citizens of Atlantis died - only a few managed to escape, who landed in Spain, Egypt and the Yucatan. The Atlanteans seem to have lacked the understanding that they are polluting the atmosphere with their industry; if we, modern people, treat the globe in the same way, we can fall into the same trap. Absolute power, indeed, absolutely corrupts.

Atlantis: facts and evidence

1. A pyramid explored by Dr. Ray Brown on the seafloor off the Bahamas in 1970. Brown was accompanied by four divers who also found houses, domes, rectangular structures, metal tools of indeterminate use, and a statue holding a crystal with a miniature copy of the pyramid. Metal tools and crystals were brought to the surface and taken to Florida for further analysis. It has been found that the crystal increases the energy passed through it.
2. The remains of roads and buildings on Binini Island were discovered and photographed in the 60s by the expedition of Dr. Manson Valentine. Similar underwater ruins have been photographed on a coral reef in the Bahamas. Similar remains of structures were discovered and photographed in Morocco at a depth of 15-18 meters under water.
3. A huge pyramid with 11 rooms and a large crystal on top was, according to Tony Bank, discovered at a depth of 3000 meters under water in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
4. In 1977, the Ari Marshal expedition reported that a huge pyramid was found and photographed near Sey Reef in the Bahamas at a depth of about 45 meters. This pyramid is approximately 195 meters high. Life-giving, but around the pyramid the water was bright white, it flowed from the hole in the pyramid, then the water was green, in contrast to the usual dark water at a depth.
5. The flooded city, about 640 kilometers off the coast of Portugal, was found by a Soviet expedition led by Boris Asturua, the buildings in it were made of hard concrete and plastic. He said: "The remains of the streets suggest that monorail trains were used for transportation." A statue was raised from the bottom of the sea.
6. Heinrich Schliemann, the man who discovered and excavated the ruins of the famous Troy (historians considered it a legend), according to his contemporaries, handed over to scientists a vase of unknown metal extracted during the excavation of the treasures of Priam. A seal in the Phoenician language was found in it, according to which this vase was a gift from the king of Atlantis, Kronos. A similar vase was found in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia.

There are supposed to be more facts, but you already get the point. Obviously, numerous studies indicate the presence of ancient civilizations about which we know nothing.

The Atlanteans experienced three cataclysms throughout their history: the first about 50,000 years ago, the second about 25,000 years ago, and the third, which destroyed their civilization, about 12,000 years ago. Some Atlanteans considered these misfortunes to be warnings that to continue this way of life meant to destroy their civilization. Unfortunately, these "doomsday heralds" were in the minority, and therefore no one heard them.

“The story of how this highly developed civilization inhabited various continents is amazing, but after many years of its development, it ended its existence approximately 11,500 years ago as a result of a terrible planetary catastrophe that changed the face of the Earth and hid most of the land under water. The key to the history of the world before the rise of our civilization is to be found in the Sumerian texts.”

Many people think that what happened to the Atlanteans is much like what I once said on television: the change in axial tilt affected some of the masses of the Earth, and this led to the separation of the continents. Atlantis and Lemuria sank lower, and as a result of this, a significant part of the land was under water.

The Atlanteans experimented with electromagnetic energy and gravity, which became the main cause of destruction. Usually, the pole reversal is accompanied by small earthquakes, volcanic explosions and earth mass movements, but this time it was the largest in the entire history of the Earth (which explains the emergence of the story of Noah and the Flood). Much of this story of "flooding the whole earth with water" can also be found in the Sumerian texts.

Secrets of antiquity. Atlantis: the lost civilization.

History of Atlantis: myths, conjectures, riddles and real facts

More than one generation of researchers has been arguing about the existence of Atlantis, a mighty ancient state that once and for all disappeared from the face of the Earth. Interest in this topic arose after the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato saw the light. It was Plato who first wrote about Atlantis, described the ancient civilization, the strength and power of the Atlanteans. Whether it was a deliberately and skillfully created myth, or we are dealing with a description of the real facts of the ancient history of human civilization - remains a mystery. Neither before nor after it was possible to obtain and find evidence of the existence of the Atlantean state. The secrets of Atlantis remain unsolved until now, forcing historians to put forward new hypotheses, and researchers to look for the place of the disappeared island-state on the planet's map.

The civilization of Atlantis is a source of controversy

Today, a huge number of works have been written about the disappeared mighty civilization of the ancient world, starting with poetic essays and literary descriptions, ending with serious scientific treatises. In each individual case, you have to deal with a huge set of assumptions and hypotheses that the ancient world looked different than today's map of the world looks like. Another new hypothesis gives rise to a new myth, which instantly acquires new details, assumptions and details. Another thing is the complete absence of facts capable of answering the question: did Atlantis exist in reality or not. This meager research material remains the lot of science fiction writers and atlantologists. Skeptics believe that the history of Atlantis is an artificially created phenomenon in modern historical science.

It is necessary to consider the problem of Atlantis in two aspects: from the point of view of the historical epic, and using a scientific approach. In the first case, one has to deal with the evidence base and materials, the existence of which is never disputed by anyone. The palm in this area belongs to the works of Plato. The ancient Greek philosopher mentioned the mighty state of antiquity in the dialogues Critias and Timaeus, which were compiled on the basis of the diaries of another prominent ancient Greek philosopher Solon, who was Plato's great-grandfather. With the light hand of Plato, the name of the ancient state appeared, and its inhabitants began to be called Atlanteans.

In his notes and books, the ancient philosopher relied on a legend according to which the ancient Greeks fought against the state of the Atlanteans. The confrontation ended with a grandiose cataclysm that led to the death of Atlantis. According to the ancients, it was this catastrophe that led to the fact that the city-island of Atlantis disappeared forever from the face of the planet. What catastrophe on a planetary scale has led to such consequences is still not known and has not been proven. Another question is that in the scientific community at the moment there is a point of view that 12 thousand years BC. the world really suffered a major catastrophe that changed the geography of the planet.

Plato's dialogue "Timaeus" quite accurately indicates the location of the country of the Atlantes, is full of descriptions of the details of the culture and life of the Atlanteans. Thanks to the efforts of the ancient Greek philosopher, the lost civilization is being persistently searched for in the Atlantic Ocean. Just one phrase "opposite the Pillars of Hercules", recorded by Plato, indicates the location of the legendary country. There are no more accurate data on the location of the mysterious ancient state, so many researchers on this topic believe that Atlantis could be located in any other part of the ancient world.

The inconsistency of many of the facts set forth in the works of Plato raised a number of questions for subsequent generations. The main secrets of Atlantis are as follows:

• whether there is a high probability of the existence of an island of such a large size, traces of which are almost completely absent today;
• what catastrophe that occurred in antiquity could lead to the instant death of a large state;
• could there have existed in such ancient times a civilization with such a high level of development, which is attributed to the Atlanteans by ancient and modern researchers;
• why today there are no real traces from the past, indicating the existence of Atlantis;
• whether we are descendants of a highly developed culture of the Atlanteans.

How did the contemporaries of the ancient Greeks see Atlantis

Studying Plato's works, one can briefly summarize the information that has come down to us. We are dealing with the history of the existence and mystical disappearance of a large archipelago or a large island, which was located in the west of the then ancient world. The central city of the superpower was Atlantis, which owes its name to the first king of the state, Atlantis. The island location explains the state structure of the empire. Probably Atlantis, like many cities of ancient Greece, was a union of island rulers united under imperial rule. Perhaps there was a different state system in Atlantis, but Plato's dialogues give the names of kings, after whom other islands of the empire are named. Hence, ancient civilization took the form of a union or confederation.

Another question lies in Plato's detailed description of the life order of the mysterious power. All the main buildings and structures of the state are located on the central island. The acropolis, royal palace and temples are protected by several rows of earthen ramparts and a system of water channels. The inner regions of the island are connected to the sea by a huge shipping channel, so we can safely say that the power of Atlantis was focused on achieving sea power. Moreover, according to Plato, the Atlanteans worship Poseidon (the ancient Greek god, the ruler of the seas and oceans - the brother of Zeus). In Plato, the temples of the Atlanteans, their architecture and home improvement shine with luxury and wealth. Reaching the shores of Atlantis, surrounded on all sides by water, and the path to the island lay only by sea, was not an easy task for sailors of that time.

Plato in his narratives is very fond of describing the improvement of the capital of the Atlanteans. The most interesting thing in this aspect is that the descriptions of the ancient Greek philosopher strongly resemble the descriptions of other ancient Greek cities found in other ancient sources. The described infrastructure, weapons, ships, religion and lifestyle of the inhabitants of Atlantis look like the height of human perfection and a model of well-being.

The mystery of Atlantis in Plato's descriptions is present at every turn. Is it not surprising that people live far from the centers of civilization known to the then world, but they have a fairly high level of development, they can make long sea voyages, trade with everyone around, eat spices and other cultures. The Atlanteans have a powerful army and a numerous fleet capable of confronting the armies of the ancient states of the Mediterranean.

This should be the point. Only Plato was able to describe the life and structure of the legendary state in such a clear and detailed way. To find other sources that would point to such facts was not, is not, and probably will not be. Neither the Sumerians nor the ancient Egyptians say anything about a large state in the Western Hemisphere. The ancient ruins of the Indian civilizations of North and South America are silent about interaction with the mysterious and powerful state. How many years ago could such a powerful civilization be located in the central Atlantic, about which there is still no real evidence.

Secrets of Atlantis: myths and legends against real facts

Some researchers continue to feed the world with illusions that Atlantis really was. Following the lead of Plato, who indicated the exact location of the island, researchers in search of Atlantis check the territory in the Azores, in the Bahamas. This is facilitated by the consonance of the names of the Atlantic Ocean and the legendary island.

According to one version, Atlantis was located in the Azores. Studies of the seamount Ampere, located on the way from Europe to America, and the adjacent areas of the Atlantic mid-ridge did not give any results. The geological and morphological structure of the seabed does not give grounds to believe that a large geological formation existed in this area of ​​the earth's crust in ancient times. Even a gigantic cataclysm that wiped out such a large island or archipelago from the face of the earth would have left behind indisputable evidence. If the island sank as a result of a successive chain of earthquakes and floods, then its remains could be found today.

Modern scientists do not have data on a major geological and tectonic catastrophe that befell the earth in antiquity. The biblical data about the global flood that befell the Earth and mankind take us to a completely different era. All information, events and facts that speak in favor of the existence of Atlantis in this part of the globe do not stand up to criticism, if you rely on the theory proposed by Plato.

Supporters of another hypothesis, the Mediterranean one, have stronger evidence in their favor. However, there are also a number of points that cause controversy. What were the real boundaries of such a powerful union, and where could such a large island or a small mainland be located. The western border of the world known to people of that time lies along the Pillars of Hercules - now the Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic. Why, with such eventfulness and tightness, the ancient world did not have cartographic data on the location of a large state that influences the political and economic structure of the world. On the maps compiled by the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians and Egyptians, which have come down to our times, the known areas are limited to the Mediterranean region, the territories of Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Many atlantologists increasingly agree that a civilization of this size could exist in the Eastern Mediterranean, in the explored sphere of political and economic interests of ancient states. The disappearance of the island and the death of the country of the Atlanteans can be tied to the catastrophic eruption of the Santorin volcano, which erupted around the 17th century BC. This hypothesis takes place, since it is during this period that the heyday of the Cretan state falls. According to this theory, the volcanic eruption not only destroyed half of the island of Thera, but also destroyed the numerous city-states that existed in this region. If we put aside the question of names and the link to Plato's statements about the Pillars of Hercules, such a picture of the ancient world has the right to life.

In this context, the version about the existence in ancient times of a powerful state that competes with the ancient Greek cities-policies coexists perfectly. The facts of the strongest cataclysm of that time were also noted in ancient sources. Today, volcanologists and oceanologists reasonably consider this version of the death of Atlantis to be quite real. Scientists have found evidence that the Minoan civilization really had a huge military power and had a high level of development, allowing it to wage confrontation with the Greek states.

Sparta and Athens are located 300-400 kilometers north of the islands of Thira and Crete, which are ideal for the location of the Atlantean state. The explosion of the volcano, which destroyed a mighty state in one night, destroyed the balance in the world that existed until that moment. The consequences of such a large-scale disaster affected the entire southern Europe, North Africa and the coast of the Middle East.

Versions in favor of another location of the legendary power today have no basis. Researchers are increasingly linking the existence of Atlantis with Plato's philosophical view of the existing world. This is echoed by other sources in which the land of the Atlanteans is associated with other mythical territories and states that existed in the imagination of the ancient Greeks.

Hyperborea and Atlantis - ancient mythical states

When asked where to look for Atlantis today, the answer may sound prosaic. You have to search everywhere. Relying on ancient sources is possible only in those cases when the question is raised about the cultural heritage that has come down to our times. In the sense in which we perceive Atlantis today as an imaginary country and highly developed civilization, the ancient Greeks at one time represented Hyperborea. This mythical country, located in the far north, a thousand kilometers from the coast of Ancient Greece, was considered by the Greeks as the habitat of the Hyperboreans, the descendants of the gods. Is this not the Atlantis that Plato wanted to tell the world about when writing his treatises?

Hyperborean lands, according to modern scientists, should have been located on the territory of the current Scandinavian countries: in Iceland or in Greenland. The Greeks directly pointed out that even Apollo himself, the god of the sun, was considered the patron of this people. What are these lands, do they really exist? It was assumed that Hyperborea is a fictional country for the ancient Greeks, where perfect and powerful people live, the gods rest. The country that Apollo regularly visits may be the same Atlantis - the state that the ancient Greeks aspired to in their development.

According to the stories of Plato, Diodorus, Proclus and Herodotus, there was once a civilization of Atlantis in the world, the secrets of which have not yet been revealed.

In ancient legends, which mention the mysterious country, there is various information about its location, inhabitants and the cause of their death.

Legend of Atlantis

The most popular is the myth contained in Plato's dialogues. The ancient Greek philosopher himself claimed that he received information from the politician Critias, who was told this story by his grandfather. But the latter also heard the belief from Solon. In general, the origins of the legend go back to Ancient Egypt, supposedly there the legend of the Atlanteans was first heard. Perhaps the roots of the bike go even further than the pharaohs, for example, during the reign of the Sumerians.

The essence of the story is as follows: at the dawn of the human race, a people appeared, the ancestor of which was Poseidon, who entered into intimacy with a mortal girl. She bore him ten sons, one of whom was Atlas. They lived on a fertile island, where there was everything that a person could only need. Centuries passed, and thousands of representatives of the highest race already lived on the land surrounded by the sea, they were in harmony and mutual understanding.

Over time, temples, chapels, palaces and other structures appeared here. Ships moored at the shipyard, there was trade in the market, ore was mined in the mines, in general, life pulsated on the island. As long as the divine principle was preserved in the Atlanteans, they placed above all not treasures, but virtue. But everything changed when there was a mixture of spiritual nature with the human gut. One of the mysteries of the civilization of Atlantis is related to the fact that the inhabitants of a mysterious power suddenly turned from creators into destroyers.

At first, the townspeople wallowed in pride and greed, and soon they wanted to pursue an aggressive policy against their neighbors. When the era of wars began, Athens became the main enemy of the islanders. A long and bloody battle ended with the fact that Athens survived and repulsed the enemy. On this, the insidious opponent stopped military expansion. Zeus was outraged by this sight and convened a council of the gods to determine the fate of the Atlanteans. At this, Plato's dialogue ends and one can only guess how the Thunderer punished them.

Atlantis on the map

There are a lot of theories about where the island might be. Consider only the most famous. So, the proposed location of the mainland is the Atlantic Ocean. The Pillars of Hercules, as stated in the stories of Plato, the ancients called the Strait of Gibraltar. Therefore, the mysterious country had to be located near the coasts of Morocco and Spain.

The philosopher's story can also be considered as a legend based on real events during which a global cataclysm occurred. As a result of the catastrophe, a very prosperous people fell into decline. A similar event could be the volcanic eruption near Santorini and the concomitant collapse of the highly developed, by the standards of that era, Minoans in the Mediterranean.

According to one version, Antarctica is the place where the civilization of Atlantis was located. This judgment is based on ancient maps that show the borders of states that existed around 13,000 BC. This conjecture refers to the shift of the continent to the zone of the south pole due to the displacement of lithospheric plates. Prior to this, the land was located near the equator and had grass cover.

The death of Atlantis

There are various rumors about the decline of the empire. But since the Platonic story is the most discussed, the disappearance of civilization is considered to be the same as it was described by the ancient Greek philosopher. According to him, it all started with an earthquake. As soon as it ended, smoke came out of the volcano. The Atlanteans did not yet know what would soon happen to their island. While the townspeople were praying to the gods, an eruption began to occur. However, this was not the end yet. The survivors began to escape in boats. They sailed to the neighboring islands. But there were those who remained on land. Unfortunately, a sad fate awaited both those and those. A chain of catastrophes that have already occurred launched another one - a tsunami. A huge wave covered a piece of land along with its inhabitants. The boats were also consumed by the violent elements.

The truth about Atlantis

Too little data, and even indirect ones, that speak in favor of the existence of a great race. But there are plenty of facts that there has never been a mystical power. The most common judgment among historians is the following - the story of the Atlanteans is a classic philosophical myth.

Plato actually did not provide reliable information to readers, because his goal was to convey to them thoughts illustrated by worldview beliefs. Archaeologists have not found at least some traces of a developed people that existed in the era of the Atlanteans, neither in Greece, nor in Africa, nor in America. Be that as it may, the civilization of Atlantis will continue to interest scientists and enthusiasts for a long time to come.

The "fatal" mistake of Plato (Critias or Solon) is revealed, which led to confusion with the location of Atlantis.

Atlantis has not disappeared, it exists and lies in the depths of the sea. A lot has been said about Atlantis, thousands of research materials have been written. Historians, archaeologists, searchers have proposed fifty versions of a possible location around the world (in Scandinavia, in the Baltic Sea, in Greenland, North and South America, in Africa, the Black, Aegean, Caspian Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and so on), but the exact location is not named. Why such confusion?

Starting to understand, you discover one pattern that all assumptions are initially tied to some kind of similarity, a find of antiquity, a single description, under which (which) the materials were subsequently “fitted”. As a result, nothing worked. There is a similarity, but Atlantis cannot be found.

We'll go the other way

Let's look for Atlantis in a different way, which in this case (judging by the well-known proposals), has not been used by anyone before. First, let's take the method of elimination, where Atlantis could not be. As the circle narrows, we will use all the “benchmarks” that were proposed by the ancient Greek scientist, the sage (428-347 BC) Plato (Aristocles) in his writings - Timaeus and Critias. In these documents, the only and rather detailed description of Atlantis, its inhabitants and historical events related to the life of the legendary island is given.

“Aristotle taught me to satisfy my mind only with what reasoning convinces me, and not just the authority of teachers. Such is the power of truth: you are trying to refute it, but your attacks themselves elevate it and give it great value, ”said the Italian philosopher, physicist, mathematician Galileo Galilei in the 16th century.

Below is a map of the world, as it was presented in Greece during the time of Plato, Herodotus (IV - V century BC).

Mediterranean Sea

So, let's start "cutting the ends." Atlantis could not be in any far corner of the world, and even it was not in the Atlantic Ocean. You will ask why? Because the war (according to the history of the story) between Athens and Atlantis could not be anywhere except in the Mediterranean Sea on this “patch of civilization” due to the limited development of mankind. The world is big - but the developed one is small. Close neighbors fight among themselves more often and constantly than distant ones. Athens simply could not, with her army and navy, reach the limits of Atlantis if she were somewhere far away. Water and vast distances were an insurmountable obstacle.

“This barrier was insurmountable for people, because ships and shipping did not yet exist,” Plato narrates in his work Critias.

In ancient Greek mythology, which arose many thousands of years later than the time of the death of Atlantis, the only (!) hero Hercules (according to Homer in the XII century BC) performed a feat, traveling to the farthest western point of the world - to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

“When the Atlas Mountains appeared on the path of Hercules, he did not climb them, but made his way through, thus paving the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic. This point also served as a border for navigators in the ancient era, therefore, in a figurative sense, “Hercules (Hercules) pillars” is the end of the world, the limit of the world. And the expression to reach the pillars of Hercules "means" to reach the limit.

See picture The Strait of Gibraltar today is the place reached by the historical hero Hercules.

In the foreground is the Rock of Gibraltar on the edge of mainland Europe, and in the background on the coast of Africa is Mount Jebel Musa in Morocco.

What western limit of the earth reached Hercules (“end of the world”) was unattainable by other mortals. Thus, Atlantis was closer to the center of the ancient civilization - it was in the Mediterranean Sea. But where exactly?

Pillars of Hercules (according to Plato's story, behind which lay the island of Atlantis) in the Mediterranean Sea at that time there were seven pairs (Gibraltar, Dardanelles, Bosphorus, Kerch Strait, Nile Mouth, etc.). The pillars were located at the entrances to the straits, and all had the same name - Heracles (later Latin name - Hercules). The pillars served as landmarks and beacons for ancient sailors.

“First of all, let us briefly recall that, according to legend, nine thousand years ago there was a war between those peoples who lived on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules, and all those who lived on this side: we will have to tell about this war ... How we have already mentioned that it was once an island larger than Libya and Asia (not their entire geographical territory, but rather areas inhabited in antiquity), but now it has failed due to earthquakes and has turned into impenetrable silt, blocking the way for sailors who would try to swim from us to the open sea, and making navigation unthinkable. (Plato, Critias).

This information about Atlantis, which dates back to the 6th century BC. came from the Egyptian priest Timaeus from the city of Sais, located on the coast of Africa, in the western delta of the Nile. The current name of this village is Sa el-Hagar (see below the picture of the Nile River Delta).

When Timaeus said that the barrier from the remains of the sunken Atlantis blocked the way "from us to the open sea", then speaking about us (about himself and about Egypt), this clearly testified to the location of Atlantis. That is, it lies in the direction of travel from the Egyptian mouth of the Nile to the wide waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

In ancient times, the Pillars of Hercules were also called the entrance to the main navigable (western) mouth of the Nile, nicknamed the mouth of Heracles, that is, Hercules, where the city of Heracleum was located and there was a temple in honor of Hercules. Over time, the silt and floating material from the sunken Atlantis was blown across the sea, and the island itself went even deeper into the abyss.

“Since in nine thousand years there have been many great floods (namely, so many years have passed from those times to Plato), the earth did not accumulate in the form of any significant shoal, as in other places, but was washed away by waves and then disappeared into the abyss.” (Plato, Critias).

Crete

Next, we exclude other, impossible locations. Atlantis could not be located in the Mediterranean Sea north of the island of Crete. Today in that area there are countless small islands scattered over the water area, which does not correspond to the story of flooding (!), and by this very fact excludes the entire territory. But even this is not the main thing. There would not have been enough space for Atlantis (according to the description of its size) in the sea north of Crete.

The expedition of the well-known explorer of the sea depths of the French oceanographer to the area north of Crete on the periphery of the islands of Thira (Strongele), Fera discovered the remains of an ancient sunken city, but from the above it follows that it belongs to another civilization rather than Atlantis.

In the archipelago of the islands of the Aegean Sea, earthquakes are known, catastrophes associated with volcanic activity, which led to local subsidence of the earth, and according to new evidence, they occur in our time. For example, a recently sunken medieval fortress in the Aegean Sea near the city of Marmaris in a bay on the coast of Turkey.

Between Cyprus, Crete and Africa

Narrowing the search circle, we come to the conclusion that only one thing remains - Atlantis could only be in one place opposite the mouth of the Nile - between the islands of Crete, Cyprus and the northern coast of Africa. She is there today at a depth and lies, having fallen into a deep basin of the sea.

The failure of an almost oval water area with influx from the coast, horizontal wrinkling (from sliding) of sedimentary rocks to the center of the "funnel" is clearly visible from the Internet survey of the seabed from space. The bottom in this place resembles a pit, sprinkled with soft sedimentary rock on top, there is no solid "crust of the continental mantle" under it. Only visible on the body of the Earth is a hollow inside that is not overgrown with firmament.

The Egyptian priest Timaeus, in his story about the location of the silt from the flooded Atlantis, gives a reference to the Pillars of Heracles (it was logical for him to say - closest to him), located at the mouth of the western Nile.

In another case (later already in Greece), when Plato described the power of Atlantis, we are already talking about other pillars, as mentioned above, there were seven of them in the Mediterranean at that time. When Plato expounded the text of the work (according to the retelling of Solon and Critias), the Egyptian priest Timaeus (the primary source of the story) had not been there for 200 years by that time, and there was no one to clarify the information about which pillars the conversation was about. Therefore, the subsequent confusion arose with the location of Atlantis.

“After all, according to our records, your state (Athens) put an end to the insolence of countless military forces that set off to conquer all of Europe and Asia, and kept their way from the Atlantic Sea. […] On this island, called Atlantis, there arose a kingdom amazing in size and power, whose power extended to the whole island, to many other islands and to part of the mainland, and moreover, on this side of the strait they took possession of Libya (northern Africa ) as far as Egypt and Europe as far as Tirrenia (west coast of Italy). (Plato, Timaeus).

The sea that washed the island of Atlantis (between Crete, Cyprus and Egypt) was called the Atlantic in ancient times, it was located in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the modern seas: the Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Ionian.

Subsequently, due to an error in tying Atlantis not to the Nile, but to the Pillars of Gibraltar, the name "Atlantic" Sea automatically spread to the ocean beyond the strait. The once inland Atlantic Sea, due to the inaccuracy of the interpretation of the story of Timaeus and the description (Plato, Critias or Solon), became the Atlantic Ocean. As the Russian proverb says: “We got lost in three pines” (more precisely, in seven pairs of pillars). When Atlantis went into the abyss of the sea, the Atlantic Sea disappeared with it.

Timaeus, narrating the history of Atlantis, noted that the victory of Athens brought freedom from slavery to all other peoples (including the Egyptians), who had not yet been enslaved by the Atlanteans - "on this side of the Pillars of Hercules", speaking about himself - about Egypt.

“It was then, Solon, that your state showed the whole world a brilliant proof of its valor and strength: all, surpassing all in fortitude and experience in military affairs, it first stood at the head of the Hellenes, but because of the betrayal of the allies, it turned out to be left to itself, met alone with extreme dangers and yet defeated the conquerors and erected victorious trophies. Those who were not yet enslaved, it saved from the threat of slavery; all the rest, no matter how much we lived on this side of the Pillars of Heracles, it generously made free. But later, when the time came for unprecedented earthquakes and floods, in one terrible day, all your military strength was swallowed up by the cracked earth; likewise, Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the abyss. After that, the sea in those places has become unnavigable and inaccessible to this day due to the shallowing caused by the huge amount of silt that the settled island left behind. (Plato, Timaeus).

Description of the island

You can even more clarify the place of Atlantis from the description of the island itself.

“Poseidon, having received the island of Atlantis as his inheritance ..., approximately in this place: from the sea to the middle of the island, a plain stretched, according to legend, more beautiful than all other plains and very fertile.” (Plato, Timaeus).

“This whole region lay very high and steeply cut off to the sea, but the whole plain that surrounded the city (capital) and itself surrounded by mountains that stretched to the sea itself, was a flat surface, three thousand stadia long (580 km.), And in the direction from the sea to the middle - two thousand (390 km.). All this part of the island was turned to the south wind, and from the north it was closed by mountains. These mountains are praised by legend because they surpassed all the present ones in their multitude, size and beauty. The plain ... was an oblong quadrangle, mostly rectilinear. (Plato, Critias).

So, following the description - approximately to the middle of the island of Atlantis stretched a rectangular plain measuring 580 by 390 kilometers, open to the south and closed from the north by large and high mountains. Fitting these dimensions into a geographical map north of the mouth of the Nile, we get that the southern part of Atlantis could completely adjoin Africa (near the Libyan cities of Tobruk, Derna and Egyptian cities on the coast west of Alexandria), and its northern mountainous part could be (but not a fact) - the island of Crete (in the west), and Cyprus (in the east).

In favor of the fact that Atlantis in earlier times (than its mention in the ancient Egyptian papyri), namely tens of thousands of years ago, was connected with Africa - says the story of the animal world of the island.

“Even elephants were found on the island in great abundance, for there was enough food not only for all other living creatures that inhabit the swamps, lakes and rivers, mountains or plains, but also for this beast, of all the animals, the largest and voracious.” (Plato, Critias).

It should also be taken into account that with the end of the ice age, with the beginning of the melting of the northern glaciers, the level of the world ocean rose by 100-150 meters and, probably, the part of the land that once connected Atlantis and the mainland was gradually flooded. Elephants and the inhabitants of the island of Atlantis (named after their king Atlanta), who came here earlier from the depths of Africa, remained on a large island surrounded by the sea.

The Atlanteans were ordinary people of a modern look, and not four-meter giants, otherwise the Hellenes from Athens would not have been able to defeat them. The insular, isolated position of the inhabitants prompted civilization to a separate active, ahead of external warring barbarians, development (fortunately, everything needed was on the island).

On Atlantis (in its capital, similar to the hill of an extinct volcano), hot springs of mineral water flowed from the ground. This indicates a high seismic activity of the territory located on the "thin" mantle of the earth's crust... "a spring of cold and a spring of hot water, which gave water in abundance, and, moreover, amazing both in taste and in healing power." (Plato, Critias).

Immersion under water

I will not now assume what caused the internal "hiccups" of the Earth, as a result of which Atlantis sank into the basin of the Mediterranean Sea in a day, and then even deeper. But it should be noted that exactly in that place along the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea there is a fault boundary between the African and European continental tectonic plates.

The depth of the sea there is very large - about 3000-4000 meters. It is possible that a powerful impact of a giant meteorite in North America in Mexico, which, according to the US National Academy of Sciences, occurred 13 thousand years ago (about the same time) and caused an inertial wave and plate movement in the Mediterranean.

Just like continental plates, crawling on top of each other, breaking edges, uplift mountains - the same process, but in the opposite direction, when diverging, it forms subsidence and deep depressions. The African plate slightly moved away from the European one, and this was quite enough to lower Atlantis into the abyss of the sea.

The fact that Africa in the history of the Earth has already moved away from Europe and Asia is clearly evidenced by the huge intercontinental fault that runs through the Mediterranean Sea. The fault is clearly visible on the geographical map along the lines (seas) of the split in the earth's crust, which go in the directions - the Dead Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Persian and Oman.

See the picture below, how the continent of Africa moves away from Asia, forming the above seas and bays at the break points.

Crete - Atlantis

It is possible that the current island of Crete was earlier that very northern, high mountainous part of Atlantis, which did not fall into the abyss of the sea, but, breaking away, stayed on the "European continental cornice". On the other hand, if you look at Crete on a geographical map, then it does not stand on the very cliff of the mantle of the European mainland, but about 100 kilometers from the basin of the Mediterranean (Atlantic) Sea. This means that there was no catastrophic break of Atlantis along the current coastline of the island of Crete.

But here we must also take into account the fact that since then the sea level has risen by 100-150 meters (or more) due to the melting of glaciers. It is possible that Crete and Cyprus, as independent units, were part of the archipelago of the island Atlantis.

Historians and archaeologists write: “Excavations in Crete show that even four or five millennia after the alleged death of Atlantis, the inhabitants of this Mediterranean island sought to settle away from the coast. (Memory of ancestors?). Unknown fear drove them to the mountains. The first centers of agriculture and culture are also located at some distance from the sea”…

The former proximity of the location of Atlantis to Africa and to the mouth of the Nile is indirectly evidenced by the extensive Kattara depression in North Africa in the Libyan Desert, 50 km from the Mediterranean coast, west of the Egyptian city of Alexandria. The Qattara depression is minus 133 meters below sea level.

See the picture above - the huge Qattara depression near the Mediterranean coast in Egypt.

There is also another lowland on the tectonic fault line - this is the Dead Sea (minus 395 meters) in Israel. They testify to a once-completed territorial catastrophe, common to all, associated with the subsidence of large tracts of land from the divergence in different directions of the European and African continental plates.

What gives the establishment of the exact location of Atlantis

The depression of the Mediterranean at the site of the former Atlantis is too deep. At first, the silt that rose and then settled to the bottom and subsequent sedimentary deposits somewhat covered Atlantis. The golden capital with its countless treasures in the temple of Poseidon turned out to be at great depths.

The search for the capital of Atlantis in the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea in the "triangle" between the islands of Crete, Cyprus, the mouth of the Nile will bring a useful result to the "treasury" of the world history of mankind, but this requires research by deep-sea vehicles.

There are guidelines for the attentive reader to search for the capital... There are two Mir underwater stations in Russia that could survey and study the bottom.

For example, Italian explorers-oceanographers in the summer of 2015 on the shelf of the island of Pantelleria, located approximately in the middle between Sicily and Africa, at a depth of 40 meters at the bottom of the sea found a giant man-made column 12 meters long, weighing 15 tons, broken in half. Traces of drilling holes are visible on the column. Its age is estimated at about 10 thousand years (comparable to the era of the Atlanteans). Divers also found the remains of a pier - a ridge of stones half a meter in size, laid out in a straight line, protecting the entrance to the ancient ship harbor.
These findings suggest that the search for the capital of Atlantis is not hopeless.

It is also encouraging that the confusion with the "Pillars of Hercules" has been successfully resolved and the location of Atlantis has finally been established.

Already today, for the sake of historical truth, the Mediterranean basin, at the bottom of which lies the legendary island in memory of Atlantis and its inhabitants, can and should be returned to its ancient name - the Atlantic Sea. This will be the first important world event in the search and discovery of Atlantis.

Research vessel and bathyscaphe "Triton"

Organized public expedition to search for Atlantis

There are many wealthy people and organizations in the world who are thinking about how they can invest their capital profitably and profitably. They have a good offer. A public expedition is organized to discover the remains of the Atlantean civilization in the Atlantic (Mediterranean) Sea (not to be confused with the Atlantic Ocean). For humanity, for modern science, for history, the discovery of the ancient civilization of Atlantis is an important subject of research.

The vacancy of "Columbus" of the XXI century is free. An investor who finds an opportunity to finance the expedition will have the opportunity to perpetuate his name in history. Just as Columbus, having gone at his own risk across the ocean to an unknown world, found America, similarly, the name of the investor will go down in the history of Atlantis. If artifacts of Atlantis are discovered, any respected museum in the world will gladly accept them, and the investor can compensate the financial expenses for the expedition with a profit. But the main thing is that all material costs are worth nothing compared to the fact that Atlantis and its subsequent study will remain in the treasury of mankind's achievements for all subsequent centuries.

In Russia, the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has the appropriate equipment for the expedition (ship, MIR submersibles), and interested researchers and specialists could perform search work. But according to the head of the laboratory of underwater vehicles of this institute, Anatoly Sagalevich, the MIR bathyscaphes have not been in demand since 2011, they need 10-12 million dollars to repair, it is necessary to change attachments. Russia has lost its primacy in this area. Today, the leaders in underwater exploration are the Americans. Businessman, explorer of the world's depths of the oceans Victor Vescovo from the state of Texas, USA, on the bathyscaphe "Triton" in 2019, sank to the bottom of the Mariana Trench to a depth of 10928 meters in the Pacific Ocean. He intends to explore other deepest points of the planet.

Discoveries always bring dividends in everything else. Only "failure is an orphan, and victory has many parents." Everyone is invited to take part in a project of the scale of the entire civilization and invest their capital with benefit and profit. To the one who undertakes this business, I will name more accurate landmarks and coordinates of the search for the capital of Atlantis.

Already 130 centuries have passed since the time when our planet was inhabited by the ancient highly developed civilization of Atlantes. So where was she really and under what circumstances did she die or simply disappear? These questions to this day excite our imagination, because so far, there is no unambiguous answer to them. Movie directors, science fiction writers, and scientists feed our minds with different scenarios. According to their versions, our galaxy is replete with various types of civilizations and a variety of types of life. But the real history of the existence of our planet is no less interesting than any science fiction. The Earth holds many secrets and mysteries that we are unlikely to find the answer to someday.

Let's imagine that we could go back to the time when Atlantis still existed. Most likely, we would not even recognize our home planet! This is due to the fact that most scientists believe that in those days the Earth's atmosphere was abundant with moisture, the climate was more moderate, the air was thicker, gravity was less, and the planet itself rotated in a different orbit. And on the site of the Atlantic Ocean there was a highly developed civilization, traces of which can be traced in philosophical tracts, myths and legends. It is believed that the Atlanteans were already the 4th! terrestrial civilization, quite possibly not of terrestrial origin. Therefore, scientists believe modern humanity is already the fifth! civilization, which apparently went on a completely different, perhaps not the right path of development of science and technology.

Civilization of telepaths and psychics

Atlantes, in their development, exceeded us in everything. They knew how to manage their own biofield, understood each other and could communicate at a great distance, that is, telepathically, they could easily levitate. Having mastered the enormous internal energy, the Atlanteans could move exorbitant monoliths with the power of thought alone. Evidence of this civilization is found all over the world: in the Pyrenees, Morocco, China, Yucatan, Europe and America. They say that the central part of the deceased continent was located in the Bermuda Triangle. It was there, not so long ago, that “energy crystals” were discovered, as well as pyramids, like those in Egypt. For a long time, the Bermuda Triangle has been considered an anomalous zone, and perhaps all the disappearances of ships and aircraft are associated with these finds. Given the opinion of professors from the Minnesota Institute, the Atlanteans were aliens who had telepathy and levitation as the only way to communicate.

Atlanteans were immortal?

There is an opinion that in the ethereal project the Atlanteans were immortal, because physical bodies lived up to 1000 years. The legends say that these are just extraterrestrial beings that have inhabited the human form, the stay in which did not pass without a trace. Over time, the Atlanteans became more and more human. They experimented with the weather conditions on the continent, which could lead to the death of the continent. They understood that with such powers and capabilities, their civilization was doomed to death, therefore, for future generations, they left encrypted information about the crystals, with which they could draw a little of their strength. Apparently, their ancient libraries and scientific laboratories may well be located on the Giza plateau. For this reason, the controversy about the pyramids of Egypt does not subside to this day. Their real role in the life of our humanity still cannot be revealed by modern scientists, or at least they do not disclose this information.

With the help of seismographic studies, American scientists discovered the ruins of settlements in the Bermuda Triangle. Their research showed that the death of Atlantis was terrible. The rapid disappearance of the mainland was so global and crushing that it led to a change in the axis of rotation of the planet. Apparently, our civilization has come to a similar step. A distinct climate change has been observed for several decades, global cataclysms such as tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes are shaking the population of the earth more and more often. Our planet, riddled with underground bunkers and mines, makes it look like a layer cake.

If our civilization does not stop the destructive activity on Earth, perhaps in the near future we may suffer the same fate that befell the Atlanteans. And to replace our era, the 6th civilization will come, which will have to start its development from the beginning. And maybe at least she will be able to follow the right path of development and find harmony between man and nature.