Ancient 'gate to hell' banned from the public still kills any life that tries to enter it today
There are plenty of places on the planet that we're warned not to go to, but when has that ever stopped us? From North Sentinel Island which contains the Sentinelese tribe to Brazil's Snake Island containing 4,000 golden lanceheads, we're also barred from visiting the USA's North Brother Island due to its former use as a quarantine base, while Norway's Doomsday Vault is strictly off limits to everyone apart from special visitors.
Even though you can visit places like Mount Everest, we're advised not to due to a potential loss of life. If you value your lives, one place you'll want to steer clear of is Turkey's Ploutonion at Hierapolis, aka the 'Gate to Hell.'
Better known as Pluto's gate, the Ploutonion at Hierapolis is thought to have originally been built around 190 BC. Way back when, the ancient Greco-Roman people worshipped the gods of the Underworld here, hence the name.
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Visitors weren't allowed to step inside the cave, but there were raised seats in an arena where they could watch priests at work. The priests would lead bulls into the cave at sunrise, and while the animals perished, they survived.
Like visiting a museum gift shop, onlookers could buy their own small animals and send them into the jaws of 'Pluto's breath' to die.
According to research published in 2018 via the Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences journal, Pluto's Gate gets its 'gate to hell' moniker due to the noxious gasses emitted from the ground.
Volcano biologist Hardy Pfanz led a team that analyzed the fumes coming out of the cave's mouth and a fissure running deep beneath the ground. The biologists found that there are deadly levels of carbon dioxide ranging from 4% to 53% depending on how far from the ground you were measuring.
This fits with a description from Greek geographer Strabo, who describes it as follows: "This space is full of a vapor so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground … bulls that are led into it fall and are dragged out dead."
Although Strabo says the priests could enter the cave seemingly unharmed, he claims they would hold their breath and still displayed 'an indication of a kind of suffocating attack.' There are reports that the castrated priests of Cybele (known as the Galli) would crawl across the floor to pockets of oxygen or hold their breath, although visitors thought it was a miracle that they could survive Pluto's Gate.
Archeologists found out the deadly nature of Pluto's Gate when it was further excavated in 2013 and birds dropped dead when flying too close. Even though you can visit the site and see a marble statue of Hades and Cerberus, stepping inside the cave is one thing you (thankfully) won't be able to tick off your bucket list.