Compared to the present, sea levels throughout human history have never been lower than 120 meters.
However, off the coast of Cuba, in 2001, remnants of an ancient city covering an area of 2 square kilometers were unexpectedly discovered at a depth of 700 meters.
“Atlantis of the Caribbean”
Cuba is an island nation located in the northern part of the Caribbean Sea, with an area of 109,884 square kilometers and a population of about 11.2 million. The indigenous inhabitants here belong to two groups, the Taíno and Ciboney (South American natives).
In early 2001, the Canadian engineering couple Pauline Zalitzki and Paul Weinzweig, with the permission and support of the Cuban government, conducted explorations in the waters off the Guanahacabibes Peninsula in Pinar del Río.
“Atlantis of the Caribbean” is likely an ancient city of the Taíno.
This area is submerged with hundreds of ships that transported goods during the time of Spanish Cuba (1492–1898), regarded as the “treasure-laden seabed”. While using the most advanced sonar equipment to scan 2 square kilometers of seabed at depths of 600 to 750 meters, they discovered a complex of stone structures resembling an ancient city.
In July 2001, the Zalitzki couple invited renowned Cuban geologist Manuel Iturralde to join them. With extensive experience in studying submerged structures, Iturralde immediately remarked, “this could potentially be an ancient fortress.” However, he added, “if it is indeed a fortress, I will have trouble explaining why it is located at this incredible depth.”
Since the emergence of Homo sapiens, sea levels have never been lower than 120 meters. In other words, the “ancient city” discovered by the Zalitzkis could not have been constructed on land and subsequently submerged by rising sea levels.
“Even at the bottom of the ocean at 700 meters deep in any sea, we cannot expect to discover a city,” asserted scholar Graham Hancock (UK). The offshore architecture of Guanahacabibes became a unique exception. Media outlets worldwide reported on it, dubbing it the “Atlantis of the Caribbean.”
Pauline Zalitzki and Paul Weinzweig, the pioneering couple who discovered “Atlantis of the Caribbean.”
An Unsolvable Mystery
During their second exploration, the Zalitzki couple’s underwater imaging equipment captured specific images of the “sunken city.” It consists of massive stones, smoothed and squared, stacked in circular and pyramidal architectural formations.
Each stone is estimated to measure 2.4 x 3 meters, likely made of granite. In addition to the stacked stones, many others lie independently, scattered across a seabed area of up to 200 hectares.
“If this is indeed a sunken city, then it is extremely special,” Iturralde exclaimed. According to him, assuming it was built on land and submerged by rising sea levels, the time it has spent resting under 700 meters of water must be around 50,000 years.
“50,000 years ago, there were no civilizations in the Americas advanced enough to construct a complex of buildings,” Iturralde contradicted himself.
If “Atlantis of the Caribbean” was not submerged by rising sea levels, then there are only two possibilities: it was built underwater or it sank. Building underwater is deemed impossible, while sinking would imply that “there have been no tectonic activities reported regarding the Caribbean land, nor even the continental land on the Mediterranean coast sinking a vast area like this.”
Nevertheless, upon careful consideration, sinking seems more plausible. With this hypothesis, “Atlantis of the Caribbean” may have been constructed on land. Looking at the map of the Americas, this land (if it existed) would be a land bridge between Guanahacabibes and the opposite peninsula, Yucatán (Mexico). The distance between these two peninsulas is 260 kilometers. In other words, Cuba was once connected to the continental land of the Americas rather than being separated by a 260-kilometer-wide strait as it is today.
A Natural Wonder?
The location of the “sunken city” and a conceptual sketch of its architecture.
The Taíno, one of the two indigenous peoples of Cuba, have a notable legend about the formation of the sea. It tells that in ancient times, Zuania (South America) had four great mountains. In the land of brave men, there was one of these mountains named Boriquen.
On the slopes of Boriquen, in the village of Coabey, an elderly couple, Yaya and Itiba, lived happily with their only son, Yayael. Passionate about hunting, Yayael often left home, following animal tracks in the forest.
One day, while Yayael was out hunting, a great storm struck, and he never returned. Heartbroken over the loss of their son, Yaya and Itiba placed Yayael’s bow and arrows in a large gourd to preserve the memory.
One day, a mischievous child in the village stole this gourd to play with. He accidentally dropped it, and floodwaters gushed out from the broken gourd. In the blink of an eye, Yaya and Itiba’s hut was submerged in water.
The fierce waves surged, drowning the fields, uprooting trees, and sweeping away boulders. From the broken gourd, countless fish, shrimp, crabs, jellyfish, and squids poured out.
The villagers of Coabey fled to the top of Boriquen. As the water rose higher, it became salty. When the water finally stopped rising, the village had disappeared, and Boriquen had turned into an island.
Surrounding it, sea creatures swam in abundance. The villagers of Coabey realized they were aided by the spirit of Yayael, providing them with an endless food source. Everyone rejoiced, donned festive attire, and held a grand thanksgiving celebration.
If this “sea fairy tale” of the Taíno originates from the reality of a great flood, it somewhat explains the incredible depth at which the “sunken city” rests. However, to this day, Cuba has not confirmed any of this. The exploration of “Atlantis of the Caribbean” remains at the level of hypotheses.
In addition to the three hypotheses mentioned above, there is another possibility regarding “Atlantis of the Caribbean”: natural formation. This means that the “sunken city” is not a human-made structure, but rather a natural artifact. “Mother Nature is very marvelous,” Iturralde explains. “Sometimes, she creates structures beyond human imagination.”
