Gate To Hell In Turkey: Why Is The Site Deadly?

An Italian professor of classic archeology, Francesco D'Andria, has discovered the fabled "gate to hell" in southwestern Turkey. The cave, known as Pluto's Gate, appears in Greco-Roman mythology as the portal to the underworld. It also appears to be a death trap for small animals.

"We could see the cave's lethal properties during the excavation," said D'Andria, a professor at the University of Salento, in an interview with Discovery News. "Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes."

The professor and his team witnessed the birds' deaths after reconstructing the route of thermal springs, which led them to a vast array of ruins - including a temple, pool, and series of steps placed above the cave -- many of which bore inscriptions of dedications to the gods of the underworld. The site closely matched historical descriptions of an ancient religious destination, where fumes emanating from the cave's opening would produce hallucinations in humans and death for animals.

"This space is full of a vapor so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground. Any animal that passes inside meets instant death," wrote the Greek geographer Strabo, who lived from about 64/63 BC to 24 A.D. "I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell."

Pagan pilgrims to the site would bathe in the pool and sleep close to the cave, where they would receive visions. Ceremonies would take place there, with pilgrims looking on from the steps while priests performed sacred rites at the mouth of the cave -- practices, during these ceremonies, included the sacrifice of bulls by leading them inside before dragging them out dead. Small birds were also given out to pilgrims, who could then test out the cave's deadliness themselves by releasing the birds in the cave's mouth.

The site was called Hierapolis by the ancient Phrygians and resides in the town of Pamukkale, which also enjoys renown as a tourist destination for its eye-catching white travertine terraces. According to the Daily Mail, hstorians believe Hierapolis was ruined by earthquakes as well as by Christians, who sacked it in the 6^th century A.D. It was fully operational as a site of religious ceremony until the fourth century A.D.

D'Andria's achievement comes after years of work at the World Heritage Site at Hierapolis. Two years ago he claimed to have unearthed the tomb of Saint Philip there, to some controversy -- the finding was based on a fourth-century text not recognized as legitimate by the Catholic Church.