Tea at Trianon: A Sunken City Older Than Atlantis

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

A Sunken City Older Than Atlantis

From The Travel:

The legend of Atlantis has enamored historians, fortune hunters, and mythology enthusiasts for thousands of years. And while the allure of a majestic coastal city cataclysmically meeting its end has a certain, tragic romanticism about it, it is more than likely that Atlantis never existed. Still, in some versions of the myth, Atlantis is plunged into the sea and manages to survive as an underwater civilization, much to Hollywood's happiness that the enduring legend is familiar with audiences. Despite a clear origin story in the writings of Greek philosopher Plato, many still echo the question: can the lost city of Atlantis ever be found?

Well, sadly, we're not here to announce the discovery of Atlantis, but rather the discovery of a different ancient sunken town that's unequivocally very real. Lying several feet underwater in Vatika Bay at the southern tip of Greece and west of the underrated Greek Cyclades, Pavlopetri rests in its coastal tomb. Though the settlement was first discovered over a century ago, the lost sunken city did not gain real attention until just a few decades ago. (Read more.)