It is not from today that one imagines about the existence of mythical places around the world. There are legends about perfect cities, where there is infinite food, abundant gold, or advanced societies with wise peoples. All this has led many people to search for these places without much success. Expeditions were initiated and many explorers claimed to have visited such places, but were never able to prove it.

Because of this, we figured that listing the ten most famous locations in mythology that ended explorers' sleep would be interesting to whet your curiosity about some of these legends. Originally organized by SmashingLists, they follow 10 locations that have drawn much attention from humanity for centuries.

10. El Dorado

Endless Gold Image Source: Red Ice Creations

This one you must know at least by name. It is a South American legend originated from the people who lived in the region colonized by the Spanish in our continent. There was the promise of a city made entirely of gold, which stoked enough greed from the conquerors of the place that was never discovered.

The mysterious city was never found simply because it never existed, with El Dorado being a person and not a city. There are reports of leaders of a people called Muisca who covered themselves in gold in a kind of religious ritual and went out to bathe in a lake or river in their area. The myth must have originated then because of the walks to the waters these leaders made, having been completely misunderstood by the greedy Spaniards.

9. Shangri-La

Would it be possible to create a city in a place like this? Image Source: Playback / ListVerse

The name of this locality should not be foreign to you either. In Brazil there are several places named after the legend, including a seaside resort on the coast of Paraná that, according to reports, has completely different characteristics than the mythology expected for the "true" place. Either way, the name was first coined in 1933 in a book called "Lost Horizon" or "Lost Horizon, " published by James Hilton.

The place would be a mystic valley somewhere in Tibet, hidden behind the shadows of a large mountain. Here, modern customs would be discredited and the land exploited in its purest state. All the wisdom of the planet would also be stored in this place.

Before 1933, the place would have been in the explorers' imagination, having a 16th century Portuguese named Antonio Andrade searching for him, but only finding Tibet.

8. Brazil Island or Hy Breasil

An island that moved across the Atlantic Image Source: Wikia

The mythological place that would have originated the name of our country is also on the list because it was, from the mystical places of the Middle Ages, the most "findable", if we can use such a term. This is because this island has often been marked as a true location located in the Atlantic Ocean near the European coast, more specifically around the United Kingdom.

The island would be a place of plenty, and many explorers would have found it sometimes. They also say that she was able to move nearby the coast of Europe to finally reach the Brazilian coast. Because of this, the tree now known as redwood gained such a name that it later came to designate Brazil itself.

The name originated in Celtic mythology, so "Hy Breasil" in the language of that people. There are references to the place many centuries before the Portuguese arrived in Bahia, including the title of a poem written by an Irishman named Moore.

7. Cokaigne

No one would ever starve Image Source: Reproduction / T3P

This locality would be a land of pleasure for gluttony fans. A land made entirely of food, where houses were built with pies and trees made cheese. The spread of this myth occurred throughout Europe when the continent in its medieval period starved and faced wars and extreme poverty. Other than that, with the growing Arab influence at the time, the myth spread, as the concept of heaven or paradise for the Arabs was something like this Cokaigne.

6. Quivira

Places would have pyramids and everything else made of gold Image Source: CorelPainter

Quivira is a larger scale El Dorado. Instead of a golden city, there were seven of them. The legend began to spread when the Spanish came to what is now known as New Mexico in the USA. The golden cities were never even found on a map, but several states that now make up the US would have claimed these cities for their territory, including New Mexico and Texas.

5. Utopia

Apparently the place of dreams Image source: Wikipedia

Another land of wonders that appeared in the books of fiction. The term was originally coined to designate a seemingly perfect location in 1516 by Thomas More in his book "Utopia" or "Arcadia". The society that grew up there would be extremely simple, busy with agriculture and quite tolerant. Still, like virtually every initially perfect place, society had some controversial characteristics, such as slavery, extreme submission from woman to man, and complete lack of privacy. Anyway, a place you wouldn't want to live in.

4. Agartha

A city in magma? Image Source: Stranger Dimentions

In much the same direction as the wonders that Julio Verne describes in his classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, there would be in the center of the planet a place called Agartha, a big city, with people and everything living there, unlike the writer. shows in your fiction story.

The city would be positioned exactly at the core of the planet and the possible entrance to it would be located somewhere in Antarctica - which doesn't help much given the size of the frozen continent. There is evidence of the beginning of this legend in Buddhist culture, which spoke of an underground kingdom called Agharti, a name that has changed over time.

3. Aztlan

The Aztec Cradle Image Source: SmashingLists

This would be the legendary and mystical land of the Aztec people. It would be located somewhere in present-day Mexico. There are reports of the place describing it as a kind of paradise while others talk about a ruling elite who ran the place with an iron fist, terrorizing the locals. Aztlan's domain would consist of all of Mexico and some US states.

2. Camelot

A kingdom just before England existed Image Source: Avalon Mysteries

The land of King Arthur, the fairest of sovereigns, would be a place where everything should work more or less well, except for a few wars with neighbors here and there. Still, the place is speculated in extensive literature and has a myriad of film productions, given the fascination of the English for the perfect kingdom that would once have existed in their lands. Camelot reports do not have a date of their initial appearance and an exact location for the place was never pointed out. Still, there was talk of Camelot and King Arthur long before England was consolidated with a de facto country.

1. Atlantis

The most advanced civilization of its time Image Source: HistoryBlog

The first position could not be from another mysterious city. Atlantis was first mentioned by the Greek philosopher Plato. According to Plato's tales, the city was built on an island or small continent, being a great naval power, having conquered several locations in Western Europe and Africa. This would have happened around 9600 BC According to the philosopher, society was advanced and when it finally attempted to invade Athens, it was punished by the gods, thus sinking into the ocean.

Because of its name, it is believed that the island's most likely location would be in the Atlantic Ocean and, according to Plato's stories, it was able to conquer territories around the Mediterranean Sea, leading us to a position apparently located on the Atlantic coast of Europe.

Plato's tales of Atlantis are discussed to this day. Scholars believe he was inspired by historical events known in his day, such as the unsuccessful invasion of Sicily by Athens in 415 BC.

Do you know any other mythical cities to which explorers dedicated their lives? Share with us in the comments.

* Originally posted on 02/22/2014.