They say that many fantasy kingdoms that exist in parallel with our world have secret gates in this reality. This means that you can at least stand at the threshold of the unknown. About the entrances to mythical cities and worlds - in our story.
Fenugreek
Shambhala is the most famous fictional paradise in the Western world, which even inspired the science fiction writer to create Shangri-La. According to Buddhist tradition, Shambhala is a hidden kingdom based on Buddhist traditions. The utopian kingdom is also home to the great warrior Geser, who commands hordes of the righteous who will go to the human world to fight demons.
It is said that one can enter Shambhala through long-forgotten outposts established in Russia, Afghanistan, the ancient city of Balkh in the Himalayas, and in the Sutlej valley in India. Heinrich Himmler was convinced that Shambhala was home to the Aryan race. The Nazis even wanted to recreate it and organized seven expeditions to find it.
But the Dalai Lama argued that the entrance will not appear to you until you reach a state of the same purity that reigns in a mystical city. Many people believe that the entrance is not a physical place, but a state of mind, which means that all of the above entrances can be real.
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Fairy kingdom
There are several legends associated with the Nockma forest in the west of Ireland. They say that there, at the foot of the hill, the legendary warrior Queen Medb is buried, and the hill itself is the entrance to one of the fabulous kingdoms of Ireland. This kingdom is located in one of the stone circles that dot the hill and is ruled by the fairy queen Finvarra.
According to legend, Finvarra kidnapped the beautiful bride of an Irish lord, and he ordered his men to excavate the hill to find her. But every night when people went to bed, the fairies rebuilt the hill. To prevent them from continuing to renovate, the lord scattered salt all over the place, and eventually dug a path into the kingdom to take his wife.
Finvarra is also mentioned in 18th and 19th century legends as the protector of the nearby castle, the keeper of the wine cellars, and the talisman of luck at the races that brought victory to any horse. Nokkma is not just a legendary site: archaeologists have discovered a number of Neolithic sites and a cairn from about 6,000 to 7,000 BC.
River Styx
The Styx River served as the main entrance to the underworld according to Greek mythology. The river is rumored to run between two massive silver columns guarded by nymphs. According to legend, the water of the Styx River served as a lie detector for the gods - Zeus forced it to drink those who supposedly told a lie. If they lied, they lost the ability to talk and move for a year.
These symptoms are very similar to those that Alexander the Great had before his premature death due to a sudden unknown illness in 323 BC. The Greek commander experienced stabbing pains in the internal organs and joints, severe fever and lost his voice, after which he fell into a coma.
These symptoms are also very similar to those experienced by a person who is exposed to calicheamicin, a toxin produced by bacteria found in limestone that has been found in high concentrations in the Mavroneri River.
Also known as Black Water, the river flows from the Peloponnesian mountains and has long been considered the real entrance to the Styx River. An ancient tradition claims that the water was as deadly as its mythical counterpart, so the only thing it couldn't dissolve was a boat made of horse hooves.
If speculation about Alexander the Great is true, we can assume that he did not die of malaria or typhoid fever, as previously assumed, but was poisoned by someone who took water from the mythical river Styx.
Lost City Z
Lost City Z is a mythological city in the wilds of South America. Presumably, there was a large and highly developed civilization. In the writings of a 16th century monk it is said that it was inhabited by white natives and female warriors. Colonel Percy Fawcett disappeared into the Amazon jungle in 1925 while trying to take a secret route.
The details of his expedition and the disappearance of the group are shrouded in mystery. According to one of the versions, the famous explorer went to the jungle not to find the lost city, but to found a new one based on the worship of his little son, who accompanied him on the campaign.
Modern satellite imagery captured what Fawcett was looking for, not far from where he expected. Fawcett believed that the entrance to the mythical city was somewhere in the Amazon between the tributaries of the Xingu and Tapajos rivers. More than 200 clay structures stretching along the Brazilian border of Bolivia have confirmed that this theory has a right to exist.
Some structures date back to 200 AD, while others were more recent in the 13th century. The entrance to the large, sparkling city of Fawcett appears to be a little further southwest of where it was last seen. Calculations show that the city was once home to about 60,000 people. It consisted not only of small buildings - some of the monuments were taller than the Egyptian pyramids.
Yomi No Kun
Yomi No Kun is a part of Japanese mythology that predates widespread belief in Buddhism. According to myth, all creation was the product of a god named Izanagi and the goddess of his sister-wife Izanami. After Izanami died, creating a fire, and her grief-stricken husband went to the underworld to get her. He discovered a dark and gloomy place where souls that retain their mortal bodies are doomed to rot for eternity.
Izanagi was forbidden to look at his wife until they reached the surface, but he caught a glimpse of her rotting, maggot-covered body. Because he dared to look at her in this state, hideous demons were sent in pursuit of Izanagi, who were to pursue him back to the underworld. But he escaped and sealed the entrance to Yomi No Kun with a giant boulder. In response, Izanagi promised to send 1000 lives to the underworld every day, and Izanagi promised to create 1005 new ones.
Today, visitors to the Matsue region of Japan can see the boulder that Izanagi is said to have used to close the entrance to the underworld. Yomotsu Hirasaka is the official name of the entrance, allegedly located behind one of the boulders near Iya Shrine. It is not yet clear which boulder is hiding the entrance. Izanami's tomb is also nearby, as is the shrine.
Xibalba
At the height of its power, the Mayan Empire stretched across Mexico and Central America, and its people's belief in the otherworldly was very strong. Their resting place was Xibalba, which only the dead could enter and only after several trials: from crossing the rivers of scorpions and pus to passing through a swarm of bats, following a dog that can see in the dark.
There are several different entrances to Xibalba, but researchers recently discovered another one in the Yucatan Peninsula. The underground and partly underwater ruins of a massive labyrinth of caves contain some grim Mayan predictions.
Archaeologists have discovered 11 different temples in the caves, along with signs of human sacrifice. There are a number of artifacts that were left as offerings to the dead, including pottery and stone figurines.
Archaeologists excavating the cave have also uncovered massive stone columns and structures that were built underwater, indicating how much time, effort and faith it took to create such a shrine. While it is not yet clear whether the Xibalba myth has anything to do with the cave or whether the caves support this myth, you can be sure that they are somehow related.
Gini's Gate
According to Wood, souls pass through the Gini's gate after death. Voodoo traditions differ from each other, and so do the descriptions of gates. In New Orleans voodoo, ginis are spirits, the afterlife, that help move from one life form to another. Gini's gates are portals to this underworld, consisting of seven gates. It takes seven days to get through all the gates, and if the spirit fails, it can return to earth and become a zombie.
Some voodoo priests believe that these seven gates are located in seven different cemeteries in New Orleans, although the exact location and numbering of the gates is a seven-seal mystery. Signs for finding the gates are scattered throughout the city and often take the form of sigils (magical symbols) so that those who are knowledgeable enough can decipher them.
The gates are easier to find on Mardi Gras and All Saints' Day, but just finding them isn't enough. You need to approach the gates and open them in the correct order, as well as please their guards. If you do it wrong, then evil and dangerous spirits will penetrate into our world.
Garden of the Hesperides
According to Greek mythology, Gaia presented Hera with trees with golden apples that grew in the garden of the Hesperides for a wedding. Hercules had to steal one of the apples - this is his eleventh test, which he had to go through to save the Earth.
The gardens are said to be in the coastal city of Morocco, Lixus. Now its old walls and buildings have been destroyed. The location of the gardens is mentioned in a nautical journal of the times of Hellenistic Greece, but in other places, including in the city of Cyrene and on one of the islands off the coast of Libya.
Newgrange
Newgrange is a large burial ground that was built in the Boyne Valley of Ireland over 5000 years ago. He became not only astronomical know-how, but also one of the entrances to the Celtic underworld. According to Celtic mythology, the gods traveled back and forth between the earth and their own worlds through special mounds like Newgrange.
Conceived as the entrance to the party hall for the so-called Lords of Light, Newgrange should lead to a world where no one ever dies. There is an endless supply of food and drink, as well as magical trees that constantly bear fruit.
The oldest Newgrange myth speaks of him as the personification of the Boyne River and the house with the well, which was the source of all wisdom in the world. The trees at the well threw their nuts into the water, which created all the knowledge that is in the human world. The next inhabitant of the underworld associated with Newgrange is Dagda, one of the oldest Irish gods, who personifies knowledge, the sun, and the sky. They say he guards her to this day.
Scholomance
Scholomance is a mythical school, stories about which were reflected in Romanian folklore until Emilie Gerard wrote about it. According to Gerard's history, 10 students entered the Scholomance, taught by the devil himself. They learned all of his spells and tricks, including communicating with animals and controlling the weather. After the curriculum ended, only nine students were released. The devil kept the latter as payment, and sent him to the infinitely deep lake, where he lived, until the devil needed with his help to make a huge thunderstorm with lightning.
In this story, Scholomance is slightly different from traditional Romanian. In Romanian folklore, he is called Solomanari and is in a world that exists in parallel with ours. After reading Gerard's work, Bram Stoker used the idea of Scholomance in Dracula to explain how Dracula's family gained their demonic power. The lake where the Devil's assistant sleeps is located high in the Carpathians, where, supposedly, thunderstorms rage every day.
Anyone looking for a lake will know they have found it when they see the mounds along the lake's shore, which symbolize those who have been struck by the devil's lightning.
Country of lazy people
The land of lazy people, also known as Schlaraffenland, is a utopian mythological city. Those who get there can find there whatever their heart desires. Especially when it comes to food. The walls are made of large chunks of bacon, the roofs are made of cakes and pancakes, and the fences are made of sausages. Wine flows in all fountains, milk instead of water in rivers. Pies with meat or fruit grow on the trees. Even the weather has to do with food: snow from sugar, hail in the form of pills. Plus, you can literally make money in your sleep. Unlike most other mythical places, the Land of Lazy People is not admitted to those who were good and led a righteous life, but those who were very hungry. To get there, you need to go to North Gommelin - a city in the north of France. The entrance is in a huge mountain of porridge. Anyone who wants to get into the cityhas to make its way, eating porridge on its way, so it takes a huge appetite to get there.