Real-life Atlantis that legend says was sunk into sea to punish drunk locals 700 years ago unearthed for first time | The Sun
A LOST city once home to 3,000 people which was flooded hundreds of years ago is set to be unearthed for the first time.
The town of Rungholt, Germany, is referred to as the "Atlantis of the North Sea", and was wiped off the map during a Medieval flood of epic proportions in the 1300s.
The former port city is at the centre of a legend claiming it was flooded as punishment for bad behaviour.
Rowdy locals allegedly got a pig drunk and forced a priest to give it last rites.
And the "sinful town" was swallowed by the sea as punishment.
Some say that before Judgement Day, the drowned town will rise from the sea, and the church spire will ring its bells again.
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The true cause of the city sinking was a major storm, but nonetheless, Rungholt has been shrouded in mystery since disappearing in 1362.
Now, ten miles off the German coast, archaeologists have begun testing the site with core samples and surveys.
Dr. Dennis Wilken from Kiel University said: "Settlement remains hidden under the mudflats are first localized and mapped over a wide area using various geophysical methods such as magnetic gradiometry, electromagnetic induction, and seismics."
Using their high-tech methods, scientists have already discovered a large church, drainage channels, and a harbour with an amazing feat of technology for the time.
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One of the largest systems of wooden tidal gates in Europe at the time have been discovered on the site.
And those living in the town seemed to have a life of luxury, eating prawns, oysters, waterfowl, eggs, sheep, cattle and grain.
Pottery, metal jewellery, and weapons from Spain and Flanders have also been found, suggesting it was a successful trading town.
Citizens in Rungholt lived on top of man-made mounds where they built their homes to protect them from the tides.
Following a major storm, the city and surrounding islands were sunk, resulting in thousands dying and the coastline shifting a whopping 15 miles to the east.
Another city was found underwater off the coast of Wales, and is referred to as "Cantre'r Gwaelod", or "Sunken Hundred".
This area is believed to have been a town surrounded by fertile land for farming and protected by floodgates.
An ancient legend dictates that the land was drowned when a priestess called Mererid neglected her duties at the fairy well she was in charge of and allowed it to overflow.
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