The Gates of Hell

Fiery crater that has been burning for 38 years

Category Natural Wonders, Fiery Wonders, Geological Oddities, Intriguing Environs, Disaster Areas

Image of The Gates of Hell located in Kyzylgar, Turkmenistan | Photo taken by, and published with the permission of <a href="http://www.johnhbradley.com/pictures2.asp?var=070707darvaza">John H. Bradley</a>

Photo taken by, and published with the permission of John H. Bradley

Source www.johnhbradley.com
Image of The Gates of Hell located in Kyzylgar, Turkmenistan | Photo taken by, and published with the permission of <a href="http://www.johnhbradley.com/pictures2.asp?var=070707darvaza">John H. Bradley</a> Image of The Gates of Hell located in Kyzylgar, Turkmenistan Image of The Gates of Hell located in Kyzylgar, Turkmenistan | Photo taken by, and published with the permission of <a href="http://www.johnhbradley.com/pictures2.asp?var=070707darvaza">John H. Bradley</a> Image of The Gates of Hell located in Kyzylgar, Turkmenistan | Photo taken by, and published with the permission of <a href="http://www.johnhbradley.com/pictures2.asp?var=070707darvaza">John H. Bradley</a> Image of The Gates of Hell located in Kyzylgar, Turkmenistan
Natural Wonders http://atlasobscura.com/category/natural-wonders Fiery Wonders http://atlasobscura.com/category/natural-wonders/fiery-wonders Geological Oddities http://atlasobscura.com/category/natural-wonders/geological-oddities Intriguing Environs http://atlasobscura.com/category/intriguing-environs Disaster Areas http://atlasobscura.com/category/intriguing-environs/disaster-areas

In the hot, expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan, near the 350 person village of Derweze, is a hole 328 feet wide that has been on fire. For 38 years it has constantly been active. This hole is known as the Darvaza Gas Crater or the "Gates of Hells" by locals, the crater can be seen glowing for miles around.

The hole is the outcome not of nature but of an industrial accident. In 1971 a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Having punctured a pocket of gas, poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole at an alarming rate. To head off a potential environmental catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole alight. The crater hasn't stopped burning since.

Though little information is available about the fate of the Soviet drilling rig, presumably it is still down there somewhere, on the other side of the "Gates of Hell."

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Users who like this place: Josh A Facebook user MikeV86 TravelingHat soporific

Sources
Map/Directions

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Stan tours gives camel and camping tours to the remote hole. http://www.stantours.com/tm_rg_ahal_do.html

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Comments

  • & Anonymous April 26, 2011
    Thanks this helped sooo much 4 my school project!!!!!!
  • & Anonymous April 8, 2011
    I went there in 2006 - pretty stunning
  • & Anonymous March 11, 2010
    First time I have heard about it.
  • & Anonymous March 4, 2010
    thank you..K
  • jamesb& jamesb August 10, 2009
    I think that more problems should be solved by lighting them on fire. Genius!
  • DancingSpiderman& DancingSpiderman July 12, 2009
    tsk,tsk,tsk...WILL THE GREEDY ENERGY INDUSTRIES NEVER LEARN?!? Reminds me a lot of my sentiments about the Russian ghost town of Pripyat: http://atlasobscura.com/places/chernobyls-ghost-cities