In the popular imagination lost cities are real, prosperous, well-populated areas of human habitation that have fallen into terminal decline and been lost to history. Most real lost cities are of ancient origins, and have been studied extensively by archaeologists. Abandoned urban sites of relatively recent origin are generally referred to as ghost towns.
Fictional lost cities have been created by many authors as the setting for stories and myths throughout the ages. These include:
Atlantis – An island and city described by Plato
Brigadoon – from the musical of the same name
Camelot – the seat of King Arthur
Charn – from The Chronicles of Narnia
El Dorado – the noted city of gold
Kutchemes – from the Conan the Barbarian stories
Lemuria – a supposed Indian-Pacific land
Númenor – from The Lord of the Rings
Opar – from the Tarzan novels
Python – from the Conan the Barbarian stories
R'lyeh – sunken city referenced in many of the works of H. P. Lovecraft, where the godlike being Cthulhu is buried
Sarnath – city described in H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Doom that Came to Sarnath"
Skull Island – from the King Kong movies
Valyria - from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire universe
Xak Tsaroth – from the Dragonlance novels
Xuchotl – from the Conan the Barbarian stories
Xuthal – from the Conan the Barbarian stories
Ys – legendary submerged city off the coast of Brittany
