NICOSIA (Reuters) - A U.S. researcher who is convinced the fabled city of Atlantis is lurking in the watery deep off Cyprus will launch an exploratory mission this summer, he said on Monday.

"We believe our discovery will put Cyprus at the center of the world stage forever," Robert Sarmast told Reuters.

Sarmast said the east Mediterranean island is actually the pinnacle of the long-lost city and the rest of it is about one mile below sea level.

Using deep sea maps and clues found in Plato, Sarmast said he has discovered a sunken rectangular land mass stretching northeast from Cyprus toward Syria.

"We are going to sail 70 miles offshore Cyprus, directly over the spot where we believe Atlantis City lays submerged and waiting to be discovered," he said.

The mystery of Atlantis -- both whether it existed and why it disappeared -- has fired the imagination of explorers for centuries.

Many believe the ancient civilization was destroyed in the biblical flood and that it was possibly the site of the Garden of Eden.

Greek mythology says Atlantis was a powerful nation whose residents were so corrupted by greed and power that Zeus destroyed it.

Some say it is in the Aegean, others in the Azores or the Celtic Ridge of Britain, and others put it even farther a field in the South China Sea.

On Friday, he will herald the start of the expedition and Cyprus's membership to the European Union (news - web sites) by heading out to the area where the mission will commence.

"At midnight we will deploy a sealed capsule to the seafloor containing a Cyprus flag, an EU flag and a flag bearing the symbol of Atlantis," he said.