Lost city (fiction)

In the popular imagination lost cities are real, prosperous, well-populated areas of human habitation that have fallen into terminal decline and been lost to history. Most real lost cities are of ancient origins, and have been studied extensively by archaeologists. Abandoned urban sites of relatively recent origin are generally referred to as ghost towns.

Fictional lost cities have been created by many authors as the setting for stories and myths throughout the ages. These include:

*Atlantis - a supposed mid-Atlantic island and city described by Plato
*El Dorado -The famous city of gold
*Lemuria - a supposed Indian-Pacific land
*Camelot - the seat of King Arthur
*Charn - from "The Chronicles of Narnia"
*Opar - from the Tarzan novels
*Osgiliath - from "The Lord of the Rings"
*Kutchemes, Python and Pteion - from the Conan the Barbarian stories
*R'lyeh, Sunken city referenced in many of the works of H. P. Lovecraft, where the godlike being Cthulhu is buried
*Sarnath, City described in H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Doom that Came to Sarnath"
*Skull Island from the King Kong movies
*Ys legendary submerged city off the coast of Brittany
*Xak Tsaroth - from the "Dragonlance" novels

ee also

*Lost city
*Ghost town
*Mythical place