Stories of lost cities have captivated travellers for centuries, but according to author Annalee Newitz, these tales often mask a darker colonial history. In her book Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, Newitz explores how European explorers used narratives of 'discovery' to justify colonial incursions, dismissing local populations as incapable of building such wonders.
Newitz points to Angkor in Cambodia as a prime example. When French explorer Henri Mouhot arrived in 1860, the city was still inhabited, yet he speculated that it must have been built by ancient Greeks or Egyptians. His 'discovery' was celebrated in France, reinforcing the idea that local civilisations had fallen from a glorious past.
The fascination with lost cities is not new. Plato's fictional Atlantis, written as an allegory about moral decline, was later misinterpreted by European settlers as a literal place, fuelling expeditions to the New World. Classicist Edith Hall notes that readers took the tale at face value, believing Atlantis must lie in America.
Despite this problematic history, lost cities continue to inspire wonder. As Aude de Tocqueville writes in her Atlas of Lost Cities, 'For the very reason that somewhere no longer exists, it can be transformed into the ideal city, the city of one's dreams.' The ruins offer a canvas for imagination, where we project our own dramas onto crumbling backdrops.
Yet Newitz urges us to look beyond the myths. The real stories of these places—of thriving communities, complex societies, and eventual decline—are often more fascinating than the legends. Understanding them requires acknowledging the biases that shaped our perceptions.
