- Jul 10, 2004
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It sounds like something out of a horror movie. But Italian scientists say that the Gate to Hell is the real dealpoisonous vapors and all.
The announcement of the finding of the ruins of Plutos Gate (Plutonium in Latin) at an archeology conference in Turkey last month, was recently reported by Discovery News. Francesco D'Andria, professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy, who has been excavating the ancient Greco-Roman World Heritage Site of Hierapolis for years, led the research team.
DAndria told Discovery News he used ancient mythology as his guide to locate the legendary portal to the underworld. We found the Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring. Indeed, Pamukkale' springs, which produce the famous white travertine terraces originate from this cave.
Scribes like Cicero and the Greek geographer Strabo mentioned the gate to hell as located at the ancient site in Turkey, noted Discovery, but nobody had been able to find it until now.
Plutos Gate has been documented in the Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, which noted in its description of ancient Hierapolis, Adjoining the temple on the SE is the Plutoneion, which constituted the city's chief claim to fame. It was described by Strabo as an orifice in a ridge of the hillside, in front of which was a fenced enclosure filled with thick mist immediately fatal to any who entered.
Scientists reportedly discover gate to hell
The announcement of the finding of the ruins of Plutos Gate (Plutonium in Latin) at an archeology conference in Turkey last month, was recently reported by Discovery News. Francesco D'Andria, professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy, who has been excavating the ancient Greco-Roman World Heritage Site of Hierapolis for years, led the research team.
DAndria told Discovery News he used ancient mythology as his guide to locate the legendary portal to the underworld. We found the Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring. Indeed, Pamukkale' springs, which produce the famous white travertine terraces originate from this cave.
Scribes like Cicero and the Greek geographer Strabo mentioned the gate to hell as located at the ancient site in Turkey, noted Discovery, but nobody had been able to find it until now.
Plutos Gate has been documented in the Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, which noted in its description of ancient Hierapolis, Adjoining the temple on the SE is the Plutoneion, which constituted the city's chief claim to fame. It was described by Strabo as an orifice in a ridge of the hillside, in front of which was a fenced enclosure filled with thick mist immediately fatal to any who entered.
Scientists reportedly discover gate to hell
