Pluto’s Gate, Hierapolis, Turkey
For two thousand years, The Pluto’s Gate temple in Turkey mystified people with its ability to kill by standing in the mists that arose in its chamber each night. Legend says the mist proved fatal to anyone trying to enter the space. It could kill a bull just by bringing it to the gate and having it stand the mist. Everyone who stood in the mist met the same fate, except (according to legend) the Eunuchs of Kybele. There is merit to the folklore about Pluto’s Gate. In 1965, scientists measured the carbon monoxide levels in the structure. As the air cooled at night, the CO2 gas becomes heavier than air and pools at the bottom of the Gate. In the early dawn, the concentration of CO2 is at its highest, becoming dangerously toxic, even deadly. When the sun rises, the air warms, and the gas leaves it deadly pool.
