Inside the ancient Roman Hades’ Gate dubbed the real ‘portal to the underworld’ after deaths of people and animals who get too close
The allegedly supernatural spot in Turkey has reportedly killed those who defied the gods
MYSTERY surrounds an ancient Greek temple which has been dubbed a "portal to hell" after a spate of unexplained deaths.
For years any beast or bird that came near reportedly dropped dead amid claims they were killed by the deadly breath of the Greek god of the Underworld, Hades.
During ancient Greek and Roman times, people were also said to have been cut down if they dared to approach.
But now scientists believe a deadly gas could be seeping from the Earth's crust that could have caused the mystery deaths near the temples, tucked away in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis.
Certainly, in the decades leading to the birth of Christ, it was described by the Greek geographer Strabo as deadly place to step foot in.
He wrote: "This space is full of a vapour so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground.
"Any animal that passes inside meets instant death. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell."
But while this may sound like something straight from the Indiana Jones movies, there seems to be some science behind it all.
Indeed birds have recently perished at the site.
Among the ruins the archaeologists uncovered a cave with Ionic semi columns.
Upon them were inscriptions with dedications to other gods of the underworld - Pluto and Kore.
Mr D'Andria told : "We could see the cave's lethal properties during the excavation.
"Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes."
He claims, pilgrims arriving at the site were given small birds to test the deadly effects of the cave.
Priests were said to have sacrificed bulls to Pluto while madly hallucinating from the toxic fumes.
Professor Hardy Pfanz, from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, said the study detected highly concentrated levels of carbon dioxide.
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He believes it is possible that the cave sits above the Badadag fault line which could release toxic gases from the Earth’s crust.
The study said: "In a grotto below the temple of Pluto, CO2 was found to be at deadly concentrations of up to 91 per cent.
"Astonishingly, these vapours are still emitted in concentrations that nowadays kill insects, birds and mammals."
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