The Lost City of Heracleion
Colossal red granite statue of pharaoh found close to the great temple of sunken Heracleion: Frank Goddio/Hilti Foundation, photo: Christoph Gerigk Sunken and forgotten off the coast of Egypt, hidden beneath layers and layers of sand and silt lies the once bustling metropolis city of Thonis-Heracleion (the Egyptian and Greek names of the city), a city lost between legend and reality. The sunken civilisation that was once barely more than a legend, appearing in only a few rare inscriptions and ancient texts, was discovered by Frank Goddio and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) in the early 2000s while searching for Napoleon's warship remains from the Battle of the Nile in 1798. The city, that was disappeared beneath the Mediterranean Sea 1,200 years ago predated its more commonly known neighbour, Alexandria, as the main trading port of the region, built on the banks of the Nile river serving as the obligatory port of entry to Egypt for all ships coming from t...