Ancient site · Other
Atlantis (legend)
Atlantis is the island empire in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written around 360 BCE. Plato says it lay 'beyond the Pillars of Heracles' (the Strait of Gibraltar) and sank 9,000 years before the time of the Athenian lawmaker Solon, after losing a war against an idealised early Athens.
Scholars read it as a moral tale about pride and power. Some suggest Plato borrowed ideas from real events such as the Thera eruption, but no ruins have ever been found. The point here only marks where Plato placed it.
- Dates
- Plato (c. 360 BCE) set it c. 9600 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 35.80° N, 9.50° W
How we know
Not proven: no archaeological evidence has been found. Atlantis comes only from two dialogues written by the philosopher Plato, and classicists agree it is a made-up story.
Nearby sites
- Dolmen of Menga built c. 3750–3650 BCE
- Los Millares c. 3000–2000 BCE
- El Argar c. 2200–1500 BCE
- Carnac stones c. 4500–3300 BCE
- Pont du Gard 1st century CE; used perhaps until the 6th century
- Cairn of Barnenez built c. 4850–4000 BCE; reused in the 3rd millennium BCE