A lost city is a city that was normal once but, for some reason, became not lived in any more and forgotten about. Many of these cities are called ghost towns.
Leptis Magna – Roman city in present day Libya. It was the birthplace of Emperor Septimius Severus, who lavished an extensive public works programme on the city, including diverting the course of a nearby river. The river later returned to its original course, burying much of the city in silt and sand.
Dougga, Tunisia – Roman city in present day Tunisia.
Carthage, Tunisia; first a Phoenician city, destroyed and then rebuilt by Rome. Later served as the capital of the VandalKingdom of North Africa, before being destroyed by the Arabs after its capture in AD 697.
Ciudad de los Cesares - City of the Caesars, A legendary city in Patagonia, never found. Also variously known as City of the Patagonia, Wandering City, Trapalanda or Trapananda, Lin Lin or Elelín,
Lost City of Z - A city allegedly in the jungles of the Matto Grosso region of Brazil, was said to have been seen by the British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett sometime prior to World War I.
Kuelap - A massive ruined city still covered in jungle that was the capital of the Chachapoyas culture in Northern Peru.
Naachtun – Rediscovered in 1922, it remains one of the most remote and least visited Maya sites. It is 44km (27 miles) south-southeast of Calakmul, and 65km (40 miles) north of Tikal, it is believed to have had strategic importance to, and been vulnerable to military attacks by, both neighbours. Its ancient name was identified in the mid-1990s as Masuul.
Palenque — in the Mexican state of Chiapas, known for its beautiful art and architecture
Tikal — One of two "superpowers" in the classic Maya period.
Cahokia – near present-day St. Louis, MO. At its height Cahokia is believed to have had between 40,000 and 80,000 people, making it amongst the largest pre-Columbian cities of the Americas. It is known chiefly for its huge pyramidal mounds of compacted earth.
Izapa – Chief city of the Izapa civilization, whose territory extended from the Gulf Coast across to the Pacific Coast of Chiapas, in present day Mexico, and Guatemala.
Calleva Atrebatum,Silchester,England,UK - Large Romano-British walled city 10 miles south of present day Reading. Just the walls remain and a street pattern can be discerned from the air.
Chryse Island in the Aegean, reputed site of an ancient temple still visible on the sea floor.
Kaupang - In Viksfjord near Larvik, Norway. Largest trading city around the Oslo Fjord during the viking age. As sea levels retreated (the shoreline is 7m lower today than in 1000) the city was no longer accessible from the ocean and was abandoned.
Kitezh, Russia - Legendary underwater city which supposedly may be seen in good weather.
Vineta – Legendary city somewhere at the Baltic coast of Germany or Poland.
Winchelsea, East Sussex,UK Old Winchelsea,Important Channel port,pop 4000+,abandoned after 1287 inundation and coastal erosion. Modern Winchelsea, 2 miles inland, was built to replace it as a planned town by Edward I
Ys - Legendary city on the western coast of France.