A church that had disappeared underwater in 1362 has finally been re-discovered. 

Scientists have been trying to determine the location of Rungholt, a medieval town, for more than a century, after a storm surge left it submerged. 

Now, a church could supply the long-awaited answers. 

Sometimes referred to as Germany's medieval equivalent of Atlantis, the structure lies just off the coast beneath the Wadden Sea. 

The project was a collaboration between three German organisations - Kiel University, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology and the State Archaeology Department of Schleswig-Holstein. 

So far, the structure is believed to be 40 metres by 15 metres in size. 

"The find thus joins the ranks of the large churches of North Frisia," stated Dr Bente Sven Majchczack, archaeologist in the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University. 

Dr Ruth Blankenfeldt, archaeologist at ZBSA, added: "The special feature of the find lies in the significance of the church as the centre of a settlement structure, which in its size must be interpreted as a parish with superordinate function."