10 Forward's video: 10 Underwater Cities You Won t Believe Exist

From the amazing Green Lake in Austria to the mysterious Port Royal in Jamaica, here are 10 of the most unbelievable underwater cities 6. Green Lake, Styria, Austria This lake in Austria is bordered by the Hochschwab Mountains and it gets its name from the color of the water, which is a dark emerald green. The lake is actually a park for most of the year but, during spring, the ice on the nearby mountains melt and they flood the park, creating this underwater marvel. Most people believe that the lake is the most beautiful when it is flood, which isn’t saying a lot about the park that is there for the rest of the year. Because of the popularity of the location and the damage that was done to the ecosystem of the lake, the location has been closed to divers. 5. Atlit-Yam Haifa, Israel Atlit-Yam is one of the oldest submerged cities ever discovered, dating back to 7000 BC. The city is extremely well preserved that skeletons can still be found at the bottom of the ocean and bugs can even be found among the remains of a granary located inside the city. It was rediscovered in 1984 and it’s unclear about how the city was first submerged but, it is suspected that it was because of the rise in sea levels after the end of the ice age. It also has some of the earliest evidence of ancient agro-pastoral-marine subsistence systems, which proved that ancient people were able to rely on farming, butchering, and fishing. Some of the skeletons also exhibit cases of tuberculosis, which would make the cases the earliest in human history. 4. Samabaj Lake Atitlán, Guatemala Lake Atitlan is a lake that can be found in Guatemala in the Sierra Madre mountains. At the bottom of the lake, an ancient pre-Mayan civilization can be found. The artifacts found in the city hint that the city was left in a hurry. The visibility of the lake is low so it makes excavation especially difficult and it means that there aren't many good pictures of the city. Several instances of altars and ceramics have been found among the ruins, though. There as also ancient Maya literature that hints that this city was founded on this lake. The site was discovered in 1996 and from what can be gathered from the ruins it appears that the city was sunken by volcanic activity around 1700 years ago. 3. Mahabalipuram Temples There was once seven temples at Mahabalipuram but, only one still stands. Six of them are lost and some recent discoveries could be the remains of the lost temples. A ruin close to the seaside temple was found in 2002 with evidence of architecture and materials similar to the standing temple. The ruins are scattered but, they believe that what remains did, in fact, belong to a temple complex. What this means for the remaining temple is unknown but, it probably means that the founders of the temples went a little overboard. 2. Yonaguni Monument, Japan These ruins are actually a topic of discussion because some believe that these rocks might actually just be geologically formed instead of having a specific human influence. The area surrounding the monument is a popular diving location because of the concentration of hammerhead sharks. Some of the bottom rocks can be dated all the way back 20 million years ago, lending credence to the geologically formed theory because, humans as we know them today didn't exist at that time. This site is unique because it isn’t protected by a government or an organization so the ruins can be visited at any time by anyone. Port Royal, Jamaica Known by most for its popularity gained by its prominent location role in Pirates of the Caribbean, this historic city does, in fact, have a history of piracy. Upon its founding, the city offered a safe haven for pirates. It also had a history of prostitution and every manner of thing that was deeply frowned upon during that time and place. The reputation that it gained from this led to the name, "The Wickedest City on Earth". An earthquake in 1692, however, sunk most of the city and killed a good portion of the cities residents. The city was mostly abandoned, with just 2,000 citizens left. The underwater portion of the city has become an important archeological site recently, with excavations being done since 1981. There is a hope of rebuilding the city because of the historical significance. Today, the city is known as the city that sank to archaeologists.