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Is there really a place called Atlantis?

Historians are still debating that question. Atlantis is the name of an island that supposedly sank long ago, and on which was a great civilization. The city of Atlantis has been mentioned in many stories and religions, and the great philosopher Plato wrote about a great, technologically advanced sunken continent in his book Critias in 360 B.C.E. Plato believed that Atlantis was approximately the size of Libya and Asia put together, had a vast army with chariots, and was located somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Although historians agree there was no island like this in the Atlantic, in the Aegean Sea in Greece, a volcanic island exploded in about 1645 B.C.E. The center of the island, today called Santorini or Thera, sank. Excavations of this island show an advanced civilization that may have been Atlantis. Archaeologists have found sophisticated multistory buildings with wall paintings, furniture, and stone and bronze pottery and an elaborate drainage system for the city.

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