- The city of Helike, in the Gulf of Corinth, sank with all souls in one night during the winter of 373 BCE.
- It was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami, along with 10 ships from Sparta in its harbour.
History
- The Sea ran in and covered the remains.
- Despite the subsequent efforts of 2,000 rescuers, no one was saved.
- Plato may have been influenced to create the story of Atlantis, by the destruction of the Greek city of Helike.
The Site today
- The Site was rediscovered in 2001, buried in an ancient lagoon, near the village of Rizomylos, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece.
- It is not open to the Public.
Roman Tourist Attraction
- Pausanias, the Roman Geographer, described the ruins of Helike in 160 CE in his ‘Description of Greece’. He described the remains as being visible under the water.
- The Roman Upper Classes visited the Site by boat, as part of the Roman Grand Tour.
- Notable Greeks who visited the Site as well as Pausanius, were Eratosthenes, Strabo and Diodorus Siculus.
- Notable Roman visitors were Ovid and Aelian.
Helike, Greece: