Where is the entrance to the underworld ? According to the acient greeks it was located somewhere in Turkey. Is it ? Nowadays, people don't pay much attention to the topic. We have no clue where on earth you'd expect to find the doors to hell. A simple wiki search could give dozens of suggestions. But we, the guys behind datalife, found some rather curious...Turkmenistan!
Around 70% of the Asian republic of Turkmenistan is a vast
and unpleasent desert: the Karakum Desert, to be more specific. What welcomes you there are the
burning black sands, the treacherous salt marshes, and lack of
drinkable water. Last place you would imagine yourself visiting.
But beneath those unwelcoming sands lays a natural gas field near Derweze village. In 1971, a team of Soviet
scientists began drilling for gas near the village of Derweze in
central Karakum. The drilling platform collapsed into a vast crater, which started releasing clouds after clouds of poisonous gases. Faced with an
environmental crisis, the scientists decided to set the crater on fire,
assuming it would burn out within a few days. 42 years later,
the fire is still going.
Further info: http://englishrussia.com/2008/03/25/darvaz-the-door-to-hell/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-20/is-the-door-to-hell-in-turkmenistan-.html
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