Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
During Dante’s
time, the gateway to Hell would be a place to fear and avoid. But today,
tourists visit the small village of Darvaz for no other reason that to see the Door to Hell, and of course,
take a picture of themselves standing in front of it.
So, what
exactly is this place? Well, as you could probably guess, it isn’t the real
door to Hell. It’s actually a deep crater (300+ feet wide by
65+ feet deep) that has been burning since 1971. A
group of geologists were drilling at the site when the ground gave way under
their heavy machinery. The resulting crater was filled with a natural gas that the
geologists feared would escape into the atmosphere. So, what did they do? They
set it on fire. They hoped that it would burn up the gas in a few days, but over
40 years later, it’s still burning. And what a sight it is! So, the next time
you’re in Turkmenistan, stop by and check it out. Just don’t get too close to the
edge. It might not be the real door to Hell, but you still wouldn’t want to
fall in.
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