Underwater Cities

Thousands of years ago, the shores of the Black Sea looked different. Where the surf roars today, cities with temples, streets, and squares once stood. But the sea advanced—slowly and inexorably. Its waves engulfed entire civilizations, leaving behind the stone skeletons of ancient worlds. The first chapter of this underwater story begins at the mouth of the Southern Bug. Here, the Greeks founded Olbia, a thriving city-state in the sixth century BC. 

With amphitheaters, temples, and cobbled streets, it was the pearl of the Black Sea region. Today, only submerged stone slabs remain. On a clear day, they can be seen if you know where to look. Archaeologist Uvarov wrote about these discoveries as early as the 19th century, but evidence emerged later, in the 20th century, when Soviet underwater explorers confirmed that Olbia had indeed sunk underwater.

The same fate befell ancient Odessos and Kremniski, cities located at the mouths of the Tiligul and Dniester rivers. When sea levels rose, the land disappeared, and with it all life. Scientists believe these were once islands inhabited by Greeks and Scythians. Particularly mysterious is Dioscuria, discovered in the 1980s near Sukhumi. Archaeologists discovered fragments of towers, walls, and a slab with ancient Greek script at the seabed. 

It was mentioned as early as the 19th century, but was then considered a legend. Now it's clear: the city existed, and later its site was taken by the Roman city of Sebastopolis, also swallowed by the sea. There's a theory that ancient Chersonesos may also be hidden underwater, just west of modern-day Sevastopol. While it hasn't been found yet, archaeologists regularly uncover traces of the Bosporan Kingdom—fragments of walls and columns off the coast of Crimea and in the Kerch Strait.

The idea that the sea was encroaching on the land was long considered a hypothesis. As early as the 1930s, Soviet archaeologists noticed that the Black Sea coastline was slowly retreating. Real evidence emerged half a century later, when underwater cameras and sonar systems first revealed ancient paved streets and the remains of amphorae. With each new study, it becomes increasingly clear: underwater cities are not a fairy tale, but a consequence of global natural processes. People abandoned the land as the waves approached. 

The sea didn't collapse suddenly, like an earthquake. It reclaimed the land year after year, generation after generation. The leading explanation is transgression, a process in which the sea encroaches on land due to rising water levels. The Black Sea was once a freshwater lake surrounded by fertile valleys. But tectonic shifts, the formation of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and climate change caused saltwater from the Sea of Marmara to flow into the Black Sea. 

The sea level began to rise. The glaciers melted, the climate warmed, and the coast slowly sank. Scientists believe this happened over thousands of years. People living along the coast gradually abandoned their homes, leaving behind temples and forts that now lie under several meters of water.

In the summer of 2023, residents of Novorossiysk noticed a rise in sea levels—slightly, just a few centimeters, but enough to spark scientists' interest. Geologists attributed this to a temporary phenomenon: storms, heavy rains, and fluctuations in atmospheric pressure. But not all experts are reassured. The transgression processes that began thousands of years ago are not complete. The coastline remains unstable, and climate change could trigger rising sea levels again.

-Pravda.ru