For a long time people believed that portals to the other world are located in certain places of the globe. In the old days they were usually called "entrances to hell." Some of them were believed to have a healing aura, but mostly they were notorious and were avoided. There are at least five such places on Earth today.
Sibyl's Cave (Italy)
This underground gallery (131 meters long and 5 meters high) is located in the acropolis of Juma. It was here, according to myths, that the priestess of the god Apollo and the famous prophetess known as the Kumskaya Sibyl found.
It is possible that volcanic fumes often penetrated into the trapezoidal tunnel with six branches on the right side. This could explain the visions that the Sibyls and some of the gallery visitors had. By the way, nearby is Lake Avernus, which the ancient Romans and Greeks also called "the entrance to hell."
Gouska Castle (Czech Republic)
It was built in the 13th century. An old legend says that the castle stands right above the pit, which is the entrance to hell. Before the construction of the castle, local residents more than once saw here strange flying creatures and the ghosts of tortured sinners, chained and begging for mercy.
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After the building was erected, mysterious noises and screams were heard more than once within its walls, and ghosts of otherworldly monks appeared.
Saint Patrick's Purgatory (Ireland)
This is a cave on a small island in the middle of Loch Derg in County Donegal, Ireland. According to legend, Jesus Christ himself showed Saint Patrick the entrance through it into the afterlife. Although this place was considered sacred and those who visited it completely atoned for their earthly sins, only a true believer could safely pass through the cave.
It is said that in 1153 a knight named Owen came down here. He wanted to atone for a grave sin. In the cave he was met by fifteen monks in white robes. They warned the knight about the dangers that this path is fraught with. But he did not obey them. As soon as he took a step forward, the ground opened under his feet and he landed straight into the underworld. There, Owen fell into the clutches of terrible demons who showed him all the horrors of hell, including sinners roasting on fire.
When the knight began to pray, he found himself on a narrow bridge stretching over the flaming abyss. After crossing the bridge, he found himself in a flowering meadow, where he met several clergy. They escorted the traveler to the top of the mountain, from where he saw heavenly paradise, shining like gold. Owen was enveloped in divine light and he experienced inexpressible bliss … Then an unknown force brought him back to the exit from the cave, and he realized that all these were just visions …
Unfortunately, no one knows the exact coordinates of purgatory now. Nevertheless, pilgrims come to the island every year to pray at the local church, which is believed to be built at the very entrance to the mysterious cave …
Darvaza (Turkmenistan)
“Darvaza” in Turkmen means “gate”. This is a crater located near the village of the same name. There is nothing mystical, however, in this place.
In the early 70s of the last century, geologists stumbled upon a gas field near the village of Darvaza. An oil rig and other equipment fell into an underground cave … Since natural gas began to ooze from there, they set it on fire so as not to poison the local population.
The hopes that the gas would eventually burn out and the fire would go out were never realized. The crater 60 meters wide and 20 meters deep burns day and night. Tourists come here from all sides to admire the "entrance to the underworld."
Volcano Masaya (Nicaragua)
The volcano, which is more than two and a half thousand years old, is located 20 kilometers southeast of the city of Managua. Once upon a time the Spanish conquistadors called him "Lips of Hell" or "Hell's Throat". Local Indians believed that an evil deity lived here, to whom they sacrificed local girls, throwing the unfortunate right into the mouth of the volcano …
This supposedly pacified the deity and the volcano no longer erupted. The conquistadors were also superstitious: when they heard about the belief, they installed a Catholic cross on one of the slopes of the Masai and paved the way to it.
Indeed, for several hundred years, since the conquest of America, there have been no eruptions and the volcano began spitting red-hot lava again only in 2008. Today it is one of the local tourist attractions. Those who lean over the crater begin to sore throats from acrid gas fumes. Sometimes at the bottom of the crater a hole is visible, surrounded by multi-colored soil, from which a flame bursts out …
Margarita Troitsyna