Dubbed “Pluto’s Gate,” scientists announced last month at an archaeological conference that they have found the “legendary portal to the underworld,” complete with poisonous gases.

Francesco D’Andria, a professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy, led the research team, using ancient mythology as his guide through Turkey.

Roman writer-orator-philosopher Cicero and Greek geographer Strabo wrote about the “Gate to Hell” as being located at the (now-ancient) Heirapolis site in Turkey, but until last month, it had never been found.

According to Discovery News, “[carbon dioxide] fumes emanat[e] from a cave below the site, which includes ionic columns with inscriptions to Pluto and Kore, gods of the underworld.

The remains of a temple, a pool, and stairs above the cave have also been discovered.

D’Andria is currently working on a digital rendering of the site, such as the one below.

Digital reconstruction of “Pluto’s Gate” (Francesco D’Andria)

[Via Yahoo! News]