Five Mysterious Treasures

The stories of buried treasure are not only an integral part of pirate myths. Around the world, there really are treasures that still waiting to be found - from a stolen Aztec gold to works of art that were stolen by the Nazis.

1. The Night of Sorrows (La Nocche Triste )

In late June 1520, the Aztecs were finally driven out Ernani Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors from their capital Tenochtitlán. On that occasion, Cortes ordered the soldiers to collect as much gold and other valuables before they embark on the ships.

However, the problem was that Tenochtitlá was in the middle of the lake, and gold is pretty heavy, so many soldiers drowned under the weight of gold and armor. In the history, this event was recorded as night when enormous amount of Aztec treasures disappeared in the waters around the capital. Archeologists think it now lies beneath Mexico City, under the lake.

2. The treasure of Lima

Back in 1820, English captain William Thompson got an assignment to take over the gold from Lima and (Peru) and bring it to Mexico. Gold, however, never arrived at its destination. It is believed that Thompson buried it somewhere on the Cocos Islands, about 550 kilometers off the coast of Costa Rica. Treasure hunters for centuries were looking for him, even the former US President Franklin Roosevelt embarked on this adventure in 1910.

A collection of gold coins and statues, jewels and swords set with gems, crowns and gold bullion and silver today worth 269 million dollars.

3. Prey of the Colonel John Singleton Mosby

The commander of the Confederate John Singleton Mosby carried out the ninth March 1863 attack on the Union forces near the court building in Virginia. On that occasion, he captured 42 members of the forces of the Union and robbed quarters of General Union of Edwin H. Stoughton.

Mosby and his army ran into the large contingent of Union forces. Mosby gave a treasure to a trusted lieutenant to bury it. Treasure to this day has not been found.

4. Lost cargo from the ship "Nuestra Senora de Atocha"

On the sixth September 1622. Spanish freighter "La Nuestra Senora de Atocha" was captured by hurricane on its return to Spain, near the Florida islands. The ship hit the reef, about 60 kilometers from the island. Almost all members of the crew were drowned, and the treasure sank.

American treasure hunter Mel Fisher found part of this treasure on 20 July 1985, but bigger part is still missing. According to some reports, missing part contains 17 tons of silver bullion, 128,000 gold, 27 emeralds and 35 kg crates of church funds.

5. Treasure at the bottom of the lake Guatavita

When gold ends up in the water, then it usually happens by accident, but this is not the practice always. As a part of tribal rituals, members of indigenous tribes in the territory of present-day Colombia were sprinkled their priest with gold, after which he threw the gold into the lake Guatavita, as a tribute to the god of water.

There have been several attempts to dry out the lake, but the Colombian legally banned such activities..