'Gate To Hell' Found In Ancient City Of Hierapolis

Hell is a hard place to describe in detail, since, after all, going there would require dying first. But in an effort to find out what the ancient version of the underworld looked like, archaeologists may have unearthed the gateway to Hades.

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, a team of archeologists working in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis in southwestern Turkey claims to have located the Plutonium, or Pluto's Gate -- an ancient pilgrim site considered the entryway to the underworld. A small cave near the temple of Apollo, the Plutonium grew in association with death from deadly gases it emitted.

Famous authors such as Roman statesman Cicero and the Greek geographer Strabus wrote about the Plutonium during their respective eras. Alister Filippini, a researcher in Roman history at the Universities of Palermo, called the find at Hierapolis exceptional to Discovery News, saying "it confirms and clarifies the information we have from the ancient literary and historic sources.”