The world is a profoundly vast place. There are numerous places that were once known and have been lost to the sands of time. Other places may have been places of myth and mystery, and never existed at all. Yet the adventure promised by scores of now missing locales continuously tempt’s man’s imagination and curiosity. Below is a list of the top legendary places that we just simply cannot find, and are not sure if they ever existed at all.
1. Prester John – The Christian King “the Three Indies”
Somewhere in Africa, India or the far East was believed to be a profoundly vast and powerful empire under the religious rule of the Christian King, Prester John (Priest John). For centuries gone, the European people held the false belief that Prester John ruled over this non-existent empire.
Crusaders and Portuguese explorers, however, were unable to locate King Prester John’s empire thought to be home to unworldly riches, including vast amounts of gold, and intriguing races of giants and horned men alike. It can only remain to be speculated on why the European people got the impression that Priest John had conquered an empire and ruled over that particularly would-be amazing empire.
2. El Dorado – The Golden City
The old Muisca tradition depicted in this statue became the origin of the legend of El Dorado.
If you are an enthusiast of the cinematic arts or the big screen excursions, then you probably have heard of the phrase or term “El Dorado.” In most scenarios that the phrase has been used in some of the most famously screened Hollywood movies, it has been in most of those cases than not to describe some pretty awesome places or people to express a mystifying purpose.
El-Dorado achieved legendary status more than 500 years ago when Europeans came to be falsely convinced that somewhere hidden in South-America was a beautiful city ridden with profoundly vast gold and unimaginable splendor. Gold was believed to be in no short supply as the King believed to rule over this land was thought to have powdered his entire body with gold earning him the name, “The gilded one.” Sir Walter Raleigh (1617) would be among a contingent of explorers throughout history that would endeavor to find this richly blessed land, all their efforts proving to be in vain.
3. Camelot – King Arthur’s Excalibur
Another place that quite infamously relates to the cinematic arts, Camelot, has been an iconic illusionary place thought to have existed in England, specifically during the rule of the mighty King Arthur. A tale is told of a brave King Arthur, passionately driven and unwittingly committed to saving his people from impending doom. He was the only one capable of handling the seemingly impossible task of drawing the legendary Excalibur from the stone in which it was irretrievably sunk.
Despite attempts at officially designating a physically geographic place in Somerset and Winchester in the United Kingdom, Camelot was determined to be more of an empowering state of mind as opposed to an actual physical destination. It might be a disappointing discovery for many, but Camelot remains of iconic value in European history.
4. Thule-Nazi’s Intrigues
Nazi’s have been associated with a lot of things as evidently documented in history. One highlight of the Nazi association that got people talking would be the legendary myth of Thule. This frozen patch of the North-Atlantic believed to be located somewhere in Scandinavia, was thought to be, according to Nazi belief, the site of the Aryan race.Â
Thule, believed to be discovered by an ancient Greek explorer in the fourth century BC, would, however, remain to be just that. A myth. It would seem that the belief that was clearly of some sentimental value to the Nazi’s as it warranted some substantial rumor-mongering from people who wouldn’t probably so much as look in a Nazi’s direction. Ventures into tracing the geographical location of the actual place yielded no fruitful result as it has never been found.
5. Atlantis – Lost Underwater City
It is probably one of the most famously known yet non-existent places. The illusionary presence of this powerful underwater city has been around for centuries and has been the subject of numerous Hollywood blockbuster movies. Thanks to Plato’s written testament way back in 360BC, the legendary tale of this iconic place was born.
The legend of Atlantis tells of a supposed catastrophic event that saw Poseidon, the ruler of all of the world’s waters, condemn an Atlantic island to the deepest depths of the ocean as a consequence for their bullish encroachment of other territories. No one knows of the actual and authentic accounts of what happened to create this elaborately intriguing legend, but one thing is certain about it. Atlantis has never been found even after profound expeditions were launched towards finding this would’ve been a godly place.
6. Aztlan – Aztec’s Ancient Home
History has it that during the migratory period of the Aztec people, several communities including the Acolhua, Chalca, Mexica, Tepaneca, Tlahuica, Tlaxcalan and Xochimilca, came across what would later be believed to have been Aztlan while making their way to what would later be known as the Valley of Mexico. It is here that these communities were believed to have settled harmoniously and would collectively combine to be the famed Aztec people.
Aztlan has, however, never been uncovered from its long lost hiding place, and expeditions to find this place have subsequently offered either elaborate yet baseless tales of a non-existent place or have simply reported no useful information about the place. Some might argue that the Aztec people had to have come from somewhere before settling in the Valley of Mexico. While this might be true, Aztlan shall remain a mythical place until it is uncovered from where it has been able to successfully hide its presence from the rest of the world for several centuries.
