3. Cape Matapan, Greece
Greece is sure seeming like the place to go if you want to find hell, which is somewhat ironic since it is such a beautiful country. The Cape Matapan Caves on the southernmost tip of the Greek mainland has several alleged entrances to hell. They open at sea-level into a cliff face. These caves are a part of all the stories involving Hades in Greek mythology, but even the very real geographer Pausanias thought of the caves as the place where, “Cerberus was brought up from Hades by Herakles,” as documented in the Description of Greece from the 2nd century, A.D.
The caves, even now, can only be accessed by boats, which is fitting since legend has it that you can only enter Hades by boat as well. On the very tip of the Cape, Diros Cave is thought to be the actual front door to Hades’ abode. To the Spartans, it was a place of worship and human sacrifice for the sea god Poseidon, whose realm merges with the entrance to Hades. People who have traveled there in modern times say that though it has thus far only been explored superficially, there remains a surreal sense of something sinister lurking in the dark shadows. Seems appropriate.
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