Zin - Azshari Zin - Azshari ( " Glory of Azshara " in Darnassian ) was the lavish capital city of the night elves 10 , 000 years ago , built on the banks of the Well of Eternity . The previous name of the city was " Elun ' dris " ( " The Eye of Elune " ) , but after her ascension to the throne , it was renamed after their beloved Queen Azshara . Within its highest spires , the Highborne set themselves to plumbing the mysteries of the Well . When they ultimately contacted Sargeras , Zin - Azshari became the beachhead through which the Burning Legion poured . Most of the city was left to ruin almost immediately , as the first targets of the Burning Crusade were the non - Highborne inhabitants . When the Well of Eternity exploded , most of the city slid deep into the newly formed Great Sea as the Maelstrom began its creation . " Thus , Nazjatar and the naga were born . Ruins of Zin - Azshari in Azshara . The cataclysm caused most of the ancient city to sink to the oceans below . However , a cluster of ruins still clings to the eastern cliffs of Azshara , long shunned by night elves . More recently , treasure hunters and dwarf exploration teams have made tentative forays into the ruins . They have consistently been repelled by ferocious bands of naga who appear to have claimed the ruins of Zin - Azshari for their own . " The Ruins of Eldarath , the Temple of Zin - Malor , and what is now the Bay of Storms may have been part of Zin - Azshari , or perhaps the city is not represented in the in - game zone . " The Compendium of Fallen Heroes ( a much more recent source ) , under Obrahiim , the Traveler , states that the Ruins of Zin - Azshari are at least somewhere in Kalimdor . City of Azshara . Zin - Azshari ( at least in some sources ) is also known as " Azshara " . It is said the entire region of Azshara was once the great metropolis of Azshara . Part of the city of Azshara fell into the sea . The city of Azshara was a former kaldorei city ( it is located on the " eastern coast of Ashenvale " a place called Azshara ) . It fell into the ocean , when the power - hungry Highborne broke the world by recklessly expending the energies of the Well of Eternity . Queen Azshara once had a home in the city . When she fell to the bottom of the sea , she ordered a palace to be built to rival her old home in Azshara . The ruined city of Azshara is the naga ' s largest landside holding , but there is little remaining to remind them of their glory days . Queen Azshara wanted to rename Zin - Azshari as simply " Azshara " after Sargeras remade Azeroth . Azshara coast . It is strange that ruins of Zin - Azshari would appear on the mainland of Kalimdor , since the city was on the shore of the Well of Eternity , hundreds ( if not thousands ) of miles away from the modern coast . However , there are hints the city may have been incredibly large , stretching hundreds ( if not thousands ) of miles across the continent , and / or that continents have drifted since the time of the Sundering . At the time of the Sundering , a part of Zin - Azshari may have stayed on Kalimdor , while most of it may have fallen into the ocean , as the huge landmass was torn into two very separate landmasses — and a newly created ocean formed in the space left behind .