Ok, bear with me on this.
As some of you know i work as a project organizer with a company running research ships. the owner of this company is a master mariner and has spent
his life at sea, he speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish, Creole, Arabic fluentley. He has amassed a wealth of life experiences and i have been
privalleged many times to benefit from his advices and knowledge.
some time ago i asked his opinion on the 'Legend of Atlantis'?....all i initially wanted to know was wether or not he believed at some point it had
exsisted or was it just a fictional tool created by plato?
My friends answer was quick and to the point, 'Yes it exsisted' and 'I believe it to be or have been where the Azores Islands are'
he then went into great detail with why he believed this to be so, and typical of me i have remembered very little of what he said. what i do believe
(and my fellow ATS'er's will just have to take my word for) is that my friend has spent a lifetime at sea, he has learnt many things and heard many
tales in different toungues, he is a wealth of knowledge like no other man i have ever had the privallige to know, thus also he is a serious and
learned scholar and an honourary member of a major universitie in the UK.
All im putting up is some basic knowledge to encourage ATS members to review and perhaps debate?
I remember thinking at the time of my discussion with my friend that his theory seemed to make a lot of sense and came away favouring his theory on
the Azores more so than any other i have heard?.....again, sadly im dammed if i can remember much of his reasoning. apologies.
here are some facts on the Azores:-
www.lennartz-electronic.de..." target='_blank' class='tabOff'/>
Historically, the Portuguese came on to the scene in 1427 with the discovery of the islands Santa Maria and São Miguel.
Due to its strategic geographic position, the archipelago was to become an important waypoint on the main routes between Europe, the Orient and
America during 16th and 17th centuries. This period saw major naval battles around the Azores, while the islands were set upon by pirates.
Subsquent centuries saw the developement of the islands, introduction of a new agriculture and the developement of cattle breeding and fishing.
Having constitued an integral part of Portugal from the very outset, today the Azores are an autonomous region endowed with its own parliament and
government
Located right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America, the Azores are on a parallel with Lisbon at latitudes of 39 43' /
36 55' N. The nine islands have a total surface area of 2.333 km2 and an Exclusive Economic Zone extending over 984.300 km2. Island area range
between 747 km2 (São Miguel island and 17 km2 (Corvo island). The peak of the volcano of Pico attains a height of 2.351m, constituting the highest
point to be found on either the Azores or mainland Portugal. The population of the region stands at 237.795 inhabitants (1991 census)
my friends theory was that Atlantis was an island located relativley close or inbetween the azores islands, when the land bridge between gibraltar and
africa broke the reverse tidal waves headed back out to sea and hit the Azores, this wiped out Atlantis, a later movement of the earths plates caused
the remaining land mass to be pushed under the sea (im being very vague, i apologise, when i was told this the proposed facts seemed to be plausable),
my friend had at some point discussed this with a proffesor friend who also believed atlantis to now be crushed under and between two plates of sea
bed.
No wether or not any geologists here would like to put up what these plates could be that should shed some light?
It also seems aparent that if Atlantis was Cyprus then neighbouring countrys would have recorded its details also?......as this is not the case it
would point to it having to be far away from view of other land?
The water around the Azores is deep, what secrets may it hold?...has there been much deep reserch in this region?
The islands are volcanic in origin, what eruptions have they seen?
There were mythical lands across sea as suggested by ancient
writing. Theopompue in 4th century B.C. wrote of a large western
land in the Atlantic. Pliny and Diodorus wrote of a large continent
beyond to the west. Solon of Greece in 600 B.C. visited Egypt and was
told of an island named Atlantis which Plato wrote about in his
Dialogues of 400 BC. His account tells of a powerful land outside the
columns of Hercules which was larger than Libya and Asia combined.
It was a land that was the way to other lands, but it sank during a
time of earthquakes and floods. The water was so muddy from its
sinking that it was impassable.2
But there were islands located in the Atlantic that were steeped in
myth and seen on early maps. They had names like the Fortunate
Isles, Antillia, Brazil, and California.3 There were stories, such as Irish
St. Brendan of Clonfert in 545 sailing from Kerry and finding islands
which may have been the Madeiras.4 On a Catalan chart these
mysterious Atlantic islands were identified as the Isles of St.
Brendan and lie only a few hundred miles off the Strait of Gilbraltar.5
Mohammad al Edrisi was credited at one time of having located a
series of islands which might have been the Cape Verdes, the
Maderias, the Canaries, or possibly the Azores. This was in the 12th
century.6
Corvo along with Flores are the two westernmost islands of the
archipelago, and hence, the last inch of European soil. It was here in
the early 1500's, that Damiao de Goes, under the employment of King
Dom Manoel of Portugal, wrote of a statue of a man on horseback
pointing to the west which was clinging to a rocky ledge. The king
asked for a drawing of it, and after seeing the drawing, he sent
someone to bring it back. As the story goes, it was shattered in a
storm en route, but the king received the parts. There too was an
inscription in the rock below the statue, and an impression was taken
of it. But neither the shattered parts of the statue, nor the impression
of the inscription were ever found.33 Was it a hoax? Scholars are still
unsure.
Some have speculated that the statue was really just one of many
rock formations seen on the island and nothing more.34 Others feel it
did exist and could have been evidence of the lost continent of
Atlantis, or of another settlement of ancient peoples. Coins too were
found on Corvo, and their images were published in a journal of the
Society of Gothenberg. They were considered to be of Carthagenian or
Cyrenean origin by the society.35 A twentieth century Portuguese
scholar, made a serious effort to locate the coins. He went to the
convent to which they were first supposedly taken. He also visited
museums where he thought information could be found. But his
investigation turned up nothing.36
what do you all think?
Regards.
sources:-
wwwlibrary.csustan.edu...
www.drtacores.pt...