Archaeologists have made a major discovery of an Atlantis-like submerged city in Kyrgyzstan. The historic site in Lake Issyk Kul was believed to be destroyed by a “terrible earthquake“.

Lake Issyk is the eighth-deepest lake in the world, going down to a maximum depth of a staggering 2,192 feet. However, the remains of the city were discovered at a shallow level. Items, including a medieval burial ground, brick buildings, and large ceramic vessels, were uncovered North-west of the lake at the Toru-Aygyr complex.

An analysis of four different underwater areas near the shoreline was carried out by the archaeologists, with the sites ranging between three to 13 feet in depth.

It is believed that the city included Muslim prayer houses, schools, bathhouses, and possibly a grain-milling system used to produce bread, according to GB News.

A spokesperson from the Russian Geographical Society, which funded the project, said that the findings “confirm an ancient city really once stood here”.

Valery Kolchenko, expedition leader and researcher at the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, added: “The site we are studying was a city or a major trading hub.”

However, it is believed that the city vanished as a result of an earthquake in the 15th century, which could be “compared to the Pompeii” disaster in terms of destruction.

Mr Kolchenko explained: “According to our assessment, at the time of the disaster, the residents had already left the settlement. After the earthquake disaster, the region’s population changed drastically, and the rich medieval settlement civilisation ceased to exist.”

Artefact samples are being analysed. Experts will use the highly accurate method of accelerator mass spectrometry dating to determine the age of the material.

The “city of large commercial agglomeration” at Toru-Aygyr was one of the most significant sections on the Silk Road, a major trading hub.

The Silk Road was used for transporting and exchanging silk, gold, and wool between East Asia and the Mediterranean between the 2nd century BC and the 15th century AD.

It was also involved in the transmission of ideas, cultures and religions.