Since early man, people have sought the gateway to Hell. Now, why anyone would go looking for Hell is a puzzle. Why not look for a gateway to Heaven? My guess is most of those searching are liberals scouting out their final home. Be that as it may, here are some of the places people have believed were the gateway to Hell and some still do.
THE SEVEN GATES OF HELL IN HELLAM TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA: The gateways to Hell are rumored to exist in a forest off Trout Run Road near this friendly town. One myth ties the entrance to hell to an insane asylum that burned to the ground in the 19th century while another claims a local doctor designed a series of gates on his land. The stories say that those who pass through all seven gates end up in the underworld, however only the first one is apparently visible during the day
HEKLA, ICELAND: A stratovolcano in the southern mountains of Iceland has long been linked to the hellfire in Christian scripture. Cictercian monks in the Middles Ages told tales of ‘Hekla Fell’ and local folklore still says witches gather around the volcano’s peak at Easter
CHINOKIE JIGOKU IN BEPPU CITY, JAPAN: A portal to hell reportedly exists in a suitably hell-ish pool of red slime (due to natural iron oxide deposits) in the Far East. Beppu City has nine hot springs, each a different color, but this one is called Chinoike Jigoku, or the ‘Bloody Hell Pond’, and is guarded by sculpted demons . In the past, the pond – where water reached 78 degrees Celsius – was sometimes used to torture prisoners before they were boiled alive
CAVE OF THE SIBYL IN NAPLES, ITALY: This cave was described in Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid more than 2000 years ago as one with a hundred entrances that led deep beneath the Earth and even reached the underworld. In 1932, the reknowned archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri discovered the hell portal Virgil described
PLUTO’S GATE IN DENIZLI PROVINCE, TURKEY: The ancient Greek site known as Pluto’s Gate or the ‘Ploutonion’ has recently been found in Turkey after an archaeological dig revealed the remains of an ancient temple on a thermal spring. This hell gate also has toxic fumes that come from the tunnels beneath which Greek philosopher Strabo said meant ‘any animal that passes inside meets instant death’
ST PATRICK’S PURGATORY IN LOUGH DERG, IRELAND: St Patrick’s Purgatory is a small monastery on Ireland’s Station Island founded in the 15th century. Stories say that when St. Patrick visited the island, he was sent visions of the torment of hell by Jesus. The cave he was in was later said to be an entrance to hell, so the monastery was built to plug it
LACUS CURTIUS IN ROME, ITALY: In the heart of the Roman Forum is a small stone well that was once thought to be an entrance to the underworld. The name Lacus Curtius or the ‘Lake of Curtius’ comes from a Roman legend that tells of an oracle who said Rome would fall unless the city made the ultimate sacrifice – and centurion Marcus Curtius gave his life to save Rome by riding his horse into a pit that opened in the center of the Forum
THE GATES OF GUINEE IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: Voodoo mythology says the recently dead are sent to a purgatory known as Guinee presided over by a loa called Baron Samedi. Some followers believe the gates to Guinee exist on Earth and are located at a sigil for Baron Samedi at the crossroads of Canal and Basin Streets in the city’s French Quarter
CAPE MATAPAN CAVES IN CAPE MATAPAN, THE MANI, GREECE: This was one of the entrances that the Ancient Greeks attributed to Hades, and the one that Orpheus was said to use to travel down to the underworld to rescue Eurydice. Visitors can enter the caves today, but a boat is needed to pass through the mouth of the hellgate
FENGDU CITY OF GHOSTS IN CHONGQING, CHINA: This 2,000-year-old settlement is located on Ming Hill and is tied to Naraka, the underworld of Chinese mythology. The city is filled with statues of ghosts, demons and the punishments that await sinners in the afterlife and ‘The Ghost King’ – a giant sculpture carved into a rock face – looks down at the city
ACTUN TUNICHIL MUKNAL CAVE IN TAPIR MOUNTAIN NATURE RESERVE, BELIZE: Mayans believed the cave was an entrance to Xibalba, their underworld. The skeleton of an 18-year-old girl has been dubbed the ‘Crystal Maiden’ and she was believed to have been murdered more than 1,000 years ago as a sacrifice to the Death Gods
