4 Popular Places that Never Existed

From a mythological Christian realm in Asia to an assumed lost kingdom, find out more about four of the most important countries that never were.

• The Kingdom of Prester John

  

For over 500 years, Europeans believed a Christian King ruled over an enormous empire somewhere in Africa, the Indian subcontinent or the Far East. The legend first gained popularity in 1165 when Byzantine and Holy Roman Emperors received a letter from a monarch calling himself "Prester John". The mysterious King claimed to serve as the "Supreme Ruler of the three Indies" and its 72 Kingdoms. He expressed his realm as rich in gold, filled with milk and honey and populated by exotic races of giants and horned men. The most significant of all Prester and his people were Christians; even the name "Prester" meant "Priest."

A Papal mission to find Prester John's court vanished without a trace, but the legend of his kingdom took hold among Europeans. Crusading Christians exulted in the idea that a devout ruler might come for help in their struggle against Islam. So when Genghis Khan hordes conquered the parts of Persia in the early 1200s, many wrongly credited Prester John's army with the attack. The fantastical emperor later became the fascination for travellers and explorers. Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, spun a fishy tale about encountering their remnants in Northern China. Portuguese seaman searched after it in India and Africa. While explorers eventually had some luck to discover far-flung Christian civilization in Ethiopia, it lacked grandeur and gold that Europeans had come to associate with Prester John's realm. By the 17th century, legend had faded once for all. 

• Hy-Brasil

Long before Europeans ever stepped into the American peninsula, travellers searched in vain for the island of Hy-Brasil, a phantom island said to lurk off the west coast of Ireland. The island's story most likely comes from the Celtic legend it names means "Isle of the Blest" in Gaelic, but its exact origins are unknown. It was first started emerging in the 14th century as a tiny circular island nearly split in two by a waterway. However, many sailors believed it as a real place until as recently as the 1800s, and it immediately became famous as fodder for myths and folktales. Some legends called the island a lost paradise, while others noted that it was perpetually obscured by a dense curtain of fog and mist and can only be visible after every seven years to be witnessed by the naked eye. 

Although many explorers launched an expedition to locate it in the 15th century, they were unsuccessful in tracking it down. 

• Thule

Thule was an elusive territory apparently located in the frozen north Atlantic near Scandinavia. The legend traces back to the fourth century B.C when the Greek traveller Pytheas professed to have ventured out to an icy island past Scotland where the sun once in a while set and land, sea and air blends into a mysteriously jelly-like mass. However, many Pytheas counterparts questioned his claims. 

Investigators and adventurous differently distinguished it as Norway, Iceland and the Shetland Islands, and it's anything but a common theme in verse and fantasy.

• El Dorado

Starting in the 16th century, European explorers and conquistadors were enthralled by tales of a mythical city of gold located in the unexplored region of South America. The city had its inception in records of "El Dorado" ("The Gilded One"), a local king who powdered his body with gold residue and threw gems and gold into a holy lake as a part of the crowning rite. Stories of the gilded king ultimately led to rumours of a golden city of untold wealth and glory. As a result, adventurers spent many years and countless lives in a fruitless search for its riches. 

El Dorado continued to drive research until the early 1800s when the scientists' Alexander Von Humboldt and Aime Bonpland branded a city myth after undertaking a research expedition to Latin America.