THE MYSTERY shrouding the temple that caused a series of unexplained deaths has finally been solved.
For years, it was thought that any living being that went near the gruesome grotto was killed by the deadly “breath of Hades” – the Greek god of the underworld.
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Since the ancient Roman and Greek periods, many a person has avoided the temple in the city of Hierapolis, modern-day Turkey, for fear of death – considering it a “portal to hell”.
The ancient Greek geographer Strabo described it as a deadly place, bringing instant death to any visitor.
He wrote: “It is an opening of only moderate size large enough to admit a man, but it reaches a considerable depth and this space is full of a vapour so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground.
“Bulls that are led in to it fall and are dragged out dead. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell.”
The site was once used for grim religious sacrifices, in which birds, bulls and other beasts were given as tokens to the gods of the underworld.
Skeletons of birds line the site of the temple’s ruins, where a cave was recently found featuring ionic columns.
These columns bear terrifying inscriptions dedicated to the gods of the underworld pleading to be spared from a deadly fate.
According to one of the archaeologists who was working on excavating the site, the lethal nature of the temple was immediately obvious to the team.
Francesco D’Andria revealed: “We could see the cave’s lethal properties during the excavation.
“Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening.”
But, D’Andria explained, this wasn’t because of the breath of Hades, but because of a deadly gas seeping from the Earth’s crust.
The team of archaeologists found that deadly concentrations of carbon dioxide were being emitted by the entrance to the temple.
In the archaeologists’ study, it was revealed that: “In a grotto below the temple of Pluto, CO2 was found to be at deadly concentrations of up to 91 per cent.
“Astonishingly, these vapors are still emitted in concentrations that nowadays kill insects, birds, and mammals.”
The researchers added that the deadliest time to visit the temple of doom was at dawn, when the gas had all night to intensify in the cave.
But, by daytime, most of the gas is dissipated by the Sun.
At the bottom of the neighbouring lake, the concentration of carbon dioxide was higher than 50 per cent – strong enough to kill a human.
The archaeologists also revealed that tourists would bring small animals – like birds – and sacrifice them at the site.
They would be thrown from the stands and crowds would cruelly watch as the animals perished before them.
On feast days, larger creatures – like bulls – would be brutally sacrificed by hallucinating priests.
The bulls, whose nostrils stand at 60 to 90cm, would be subjected to the toxic gases – while the priests, who were taller, would not suffer the same fate as the poor beasts.
Although they generally stood much taller than the toxic levels of the gas, it is reported that they sometimes used stones to be larger.
The priests also used the cave to “prove” that they were immune to death, and that they had been bestowed with divine protection.
Reports suggest that they entered the cave holding their breath, or crawled to pockets of oxygen.
It is thought that they would have been madly hallucinating from the fumes, however.
Other “Portals to Hell”
Bodai-Ji
Neatly tucked away in the slopes of Mount Osore is the Buddhist temple Bodai-Ji.
Legend has long recorded the site as the entrance to the underworld, with the small river nearby thought to be where the dead pass into the afterlife.
Cape Tainarnon
On the coast of Greece lies another suspected gate to the underworld.
It is thought that the gate was guarded by a three-headed dog which stopped the dead from escaping.
Devil’s Lair
Inside a gigantic volcanic field in Naples is Lake Avernus, a hellish pit that birds fear flying over.
It has long been claimed that the lake hides a cavern thought to be a portal to hell.
Door to Hell
A flaming gas crater in Turkmenistan has been burning continuously for half a century.
It was set alight by Soviets back in 1971, assuming it would stop burning within a few weeks – decades later, it is still going strong, and has been nicknamed “door to hell”.
Gateway of Death
Murgo, lying in between India and China, is completely devoid of any life.
At an altitude of 14,600ft, reaching -50C in the winter, and completely barren – legend has deemed it another entrance to the underworld.
Hellmouth
This crater in Siberia has long been known as a portal to hell by locals, a belief that has been intensifying by its rapid increase in size.
As it continues to devour the landscape, at a terrifying rate of 33ft per year, neighbouring villages are convinced the ever-growing site must be supernatural.
Mount Etna
According to Greek myth, Zeus’ daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades from the slopes of this volcano in Sicily.
Eruptions, lava and toxic fumes continue to plague the region, fuelling the belief that this Mt. Etna is still used as Hades’ gate to the underworld.
Seven Gates of Hell
Legend has it that several gates to hell plague woodland in Pennsylvania – with some claiming that they emerged from a burned-down asylum, while others suggest they were built by a mad doctor.
However, the main claim remains the same – if you pass through all seven of the gates, you will be sent straight to hell.
Well to Hell
Also located in Siberia, local legend tells how scientists bore a gigantic nine-mile hole in the Earth’s crust. After lowering microphones into the chasm, the scientists heard human screams.
It was only then that they realised that they had created a passage into hell. They fled in terror, never to return.
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