Scientists reportedly discover gate to hell

It sounds like something out of a horror movie. But Italian scientists
say that the "Gate to Hell" is the real deal—poisonous vapors and all.

The announcement of the finding of the ruins of Pluto's 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.

D'Andria 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.

"Pluto's 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."

Strabo (64 B.C.- 24 B.C.) wrote, "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. I threw in sparrows and they
immediately breathed their last and fell."

The portal to the underworld seems just as bad for your health today.
The professor said, "We could see the cave's lethal properties during
the excavation. Several birds died as they tried to get close to the
warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes."

According to Discovery News, the fumes emanated from a cave below the
site, which includes ionic columns with inscriptions to Pluto and
Kore, gods of the underworld. Also discovered: the remains of a
temple, and a pool and stairs placed above the cave. D'Andria is now
working on a digital rendering of the site.

Amazingly, this isn't the first entry to the underworld in the world.
In the Karakum Desert, reports the Daily Mail, a fiery pit that's been
lit up for over 40 years has inspired visitors to Derweze in
Turkmenistan—and on the Web. Geologists drilling in the area came
across a natural gas cavern. Hoping to burn off the gas, they set it
on fire. The flames continued to burn, leading locals to dub the site
the "door to hell."

Culled from yahoo news.