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The gates of hell are various places on the surface of the world that have acquired a legendary reputation for being entrances to the underworld.

Often they are found in regions of unusual geological activity, particularly volcanic areas, or sometimes at lakes, caves, or mountains.

Legends from both ancient Greece and Rome record stories of mortals who entered or were abducted into the netherworld through such gates. Aeneas visited the underworld, entering through a cave at the edge of Lake Avernus on the Bay of Naples.

Into the Middle Ages, Mount Etna in Sicily was considered to be an entryway to hell. The gates of hell were commonly depicted as jaws, forming the Hellmouth, which was simultaneously the entrance to hell and the mouth of a huge monster.

Auguste Rodin was commissioned to make a pair of bronze doors to symbolize the gates of hell. The Gates of Hell was described as one of the defining works of Rodin. Having hoped to exhibit his Gates at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, but probably too busy to finish them, the sculptor stopped working on them circa 1890.

In China, Fengdu has a long history in the Taoist tradition of being a portal to hell. In Derweze, Turkmenistan, a burning natural gas fire in the middle of the Karakum Desert is known as the Door to Hell or Darvaza gas crater. Hellam Township near York, Pennsylvania, is the subject of a modern urban legend claiming that it contains the Seven Gates of Hell. Masaya Volcano located in Nicaragua is known as another gate of hell, it is part of the first national park in the country. It is locally known to the indigenous as the "mouth of hell".

Thomas De Witt Talmage delivered a widely reprinted sermon titled "The Gates of Hell" at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, based on the scripture Matthew 16:18, message by Jesus to Peter "...on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." Talmage's gates were metaphorical, including "infamous literature," "dissolute dance," "indiscreet apparel," and "alcoholic beverage". In ancient Indian Hindu tradition the Orion constellation where the vernal equinox is stated to occur, the Milky Way and the Canis were considered to form the border between Devaloka (heaven) and Yamaloka (hell); the Milky Way forming the dividing river between heaven and hell and the Canis Major and Canis Minor representing dogs that guarded the Gates of Hell.

This place was once known as the burial ground for Chinese invaders, for it was the place where the Jin dynasty failed to conqueur, the burial of Ni Run 倪潤 in the 2nd War Against The Yuan-Mongols and Liu Sheng in the Battle of Chi Lăng; so the Chinese invaders had called this mountain the Gate of hell (Chinese: 鬼門关, romanized: guǐménguān).

In August 2010, the History Channel premiered a show entitled "The Gates of Hell" (History Specials: Gates of Hell (Season 1, Episode 105), which visited caves and volcanoes in Nicaragua, Belize, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Ethiopia, to examine the origins of these myths. The September 2012 edition of Weird NJ magazine describes a large tunnel, referred to by urban legends as "The Gates of Hell". The February 2016 edition of Weird Ohio magazine describes a similar sewer system referred to as "The Gates of Hell" or the "Blood Bowl" in the High Street area of Columbus, Ohio. Darvaza gas crater, also known as the "Door to Hell"

Seven Gates of Hell, a modern urban legend concerning the myth

"The Gates of Hell", a song performed in 2008 by Italian rappers Noyz Narcos and Duke Montana Robert Lima, "The Mouth of Hell: Damnation on the Stage of the Middle Ages" in Stages of Evil: Occultism in Western Theatre and Drama (University Press of Kentucky 2005).

Quick Facts

• The gates of hell were commonly depicted as jaws, forming the Hellmouth, which was simultaneously the entrance to hell and the mouth of a huge monster.
• The February 2016 edition of Weird Ohio magazine describes a similar sewer system referred to as "The Gates of Hell" or the "Blood Bowl" in the High Street area of Columbus, Ohio.
• Seven Gates of Hell, a modern urban legend concerning the myth
• The September 2012 edition of Weird NJ magazine describes a large tunnel, referred to by urban legends as "The Gates of Hell".
• Hellam Township near York, Pennsylvania, is the subject of a modern urban legend claiming that it contains the Seven Gates of Hell.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Gates of hell". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.