For as long as there’s been a belief in a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, people have tried to imagine what hell looks like.
Had all those theologians, academics, philosophers and artists through the ages taken a trip together to the heart of Karakum Desert any time in the past 40 years, they surely would’ve agreed that the fiery hole lying outside the tiny Turkmenistan town of Derweze is the ideal representation of the door to it.
When drilling at the site in 1971, Soviet scientists unwittingly tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. Soon the ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a 70-metre wide crater.
Geologists considered the release of gas risky and resolved to burn it off. They believed their fire would burn out within days. More than four decades later, the inferno is still burning!
Understandably, the locals refer to the site as “The Door to Hell”. Check out the video below for a look at it. If you want to see if with your own eyes, it might be worth making the schlep sooner rather than later. Two years ago, Turkmenistan’s president visited the hole and demanded it be closed.
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
(Featured image: rapidtravelchai)
