Original subtitles

[narrator] A once lavish theater that saw the house brought down.

[Landdeck] The decibels were so crazy loud

that they were doing physical damage to the building.

[narrator] An ancient city with a poisonous secret.

[Selwood] Those who approached the deadly grotto dropped dead immediately,

and were dragged away to the underworld.

[narrator] And a war-torn shell, given new purpose by a blockbuster series.

[Pedrick] No spoilers, but once you see it, you can't unsee it.

[narrator] Decaying relics, ruins of lost worlds,

sights haunted by the past,

they're secrets waiting to be revealed.

they're secrets waiting to be revealed.

On Cleveland's Lorain Avenue, is a forgotten treasure.

[Landdeck] There's some older homes, there's some empty storefronts,

and it's all just a little bit run down.

and it's all just a little bit run down.

[Mabry] Then you see this marquee with the word, "Variety" on it.

This could only be a theater.

[narrator] Despite it's modern sign, the interior has seen better days.

[Meigs] When you step inside, it's like you're going back in time.

[Mabry] You have turnstiles, massive mirrors, rusting machinery.

[Landdeck] There's plaster that's peeling off the walls,

there's giant chandeliers.

[Meigs] The main hall is kind of a beautiful wreck,

but clearly in its heyday, this was quite the place.

[narrator] Having entertained generations in majestic surroundings,

a surprising event would spell its downfall.

[Mabry] It was deafening.

I mean, there were chunks of the ceiling,

literally raining down on top of the crowd.

[Landdeck] The only way he could stop it

was to run in and pull the breaker, ending the power for the whole thing.

was to run in and pull the breaker, ending the power for the whole thing.

[narrator] Rose Zitiello first came to the Variety Theatre more than 35 years ago.

[Zitiello] Past the turnstiles here

where you would have given the, uh, attendant your ticket,

you would have walked into this inner lobby.

And this is where the concessions were sold,

so the popcorn, and the beverages.

[narrator] When it opened in 1927,

[narrator] When it opened in 1927,

the huge main auditorium was the height of luxury.

[Zitiello] This would have been one of the aisles

to walk to one of your seats.

There was 1,900 seats in this main floor.

You can still see some of the velvet curtains,

and wall treatments still hanging on the walls here.

[narrator] The house was regularly packed out

to see the latest vaudeville shows.

[Mabry] Vaudeville acts included musicians, singers, trained animals, magicians.

[Mabry] Vaudeville acts included musicians, singers, trained animals, magicians.

[Meigs] People would pay their nickel or dime at the door,

and get an evening of what was literally, a variety show, a little bit of everything.

[narrator] But the theater hadn't only been designed for live performances.

Vaudeville was competing against a new and exciting medium, moving pictures.

[Zitiello] So to my right, here, is where the magic happens.

It... This is the Peerless Magnarc high intensity lamp.

It... This is the Peerless Magnarc high intensity lamp.

[Landdeck] The first film that they opened

at the Variety Theatre was Hula with Clara Bow.

[Meigs] She was a big sex symbol, and this movie was a little controversial.

[Landdeck] She swims nude in a lagoon, she wears pants,

she does a little striptease behind a bush.

She's trying to seduce a married man and wins,

which is not the way it's supposed to turn out.

which is not the way it's supposed to turn out.

[Zitiello] The crowd was standing clear around 118th, up 119th

to get in this theater to see that show.

[narrator] When movies went from silent to talkies in the late 1920's,

even more people were drawn to the Variety,

and its success attracted a new owner.

The Warner Brothers studio decided to buy it in 1929.

[Mabry] This was right in the middle of Hollywood's golden age,

[Mabry] This was right in the middle of Hollywood's golden age,

and everyone would come to the Variety to see the latest blockbuster movie.

[narrator] After decades of entertaining the people of Cleveland,

vast social and cultural changes in the late 1940's

began to undermine its success.

[Meigs] During this period,

a lot of the American middle class was moving out of center cities and out to the suburbs.

That spelled a real problem for these great, old downtown theaters.

That spelled a real problem for these great, old downtown theaters.

[Mabry] With multiplex cinemas opening out of the city center,

with multiple screens, several movies playing,

the Variety just couldn't compete.

[narrator] At the same time, a new form of entertainment was gaining the upper hand.

With the rise of television, people were stayin' in,

and just weren't goin' to the theater anymore.

[Meigs] They could see great entertainers, in their own living rooms.

[Meigs] They could see great entertainers, in their own living rooms.

[narrator] In 1954, Warner Brothers sold the theater,

and the coming decades would see its fortunes decline yet further.

[Mabry] The theater was sold to different owners,

and it was really startin' to fall apart.

[narrator] But it wouldn't go out quietly.

In 1976, a new owner bought the Variety

with a plan to reverse its fortunes.

A burgeoning music scene would provide him with a much needed revenue stream.

[Zitiello] During the 80's, there was quite a Cleveland presence

of independent labels, and, uh, punk rock bands,

and they actually found a home here at the Variety Theatre.

[Meigs] Through the 80's,

the theater hosted a whole series of rock concerts, bands,

everything from R.E.M. to Metallica.

[narrator] One of these shows would go down in music history.

[Zitiello] One of the most infamous events was on December 2, 1984.

And on that evening, everybody knew that Motorhead was playing here.

There were at least 1,900 people on the main floor,

and a couple hundred people more in the balcony.

[Landdeck] Now this is a band that is proud of how loud they are.

[Landdeck] Now this is a band that is proud of how loud they are.

[Meigs] The band's volume reached a literally, ear-splitting 130 decibels.

Which would have set the record

as the loudest rock performance ever measured,

beating a previous performance by The Who.

[Mabry] They played song after song at top volume,

and the audience kept wanting more, so they kept playing.

[narrator] But the thunderous noise of the band inside this aging theater,

was a recipe for disaster.

[narrator] On the night of December 2, 1984, heavy metal band, Motorhead

were playing to a packed auditorium at Cleveland's Variety Theatre.

Their record-breaking volume would literally bring the house down.

The performance was so loud that chunks of plaster were falling from the ceiling.

The performance was so loud that chunks of plaster were falling from the ceiling.

[Zitiello] The maintenance man sees the plaster falling, and at that moment

he doesn't know if it's just superficial plaster falling, is it a structural problem,

does he have to get this crowd outta here?

[Meigs] He tried to get the band to turn down to no avail.

[Landdeck] They were loud, they were proud,

they were gonna be as loud as they could.

And it finally got so bad that he went and he just pulled the breaker,

and shut the whole thing down.

and shut the whole thing down.

[narrator] The damage to the ceiling was, in fact, only superficial,

but the fallout wasn't over yet.

Incensed by the noise, local residents took action.

[Meigs] They began to complain, file lawsuits,

and eventually the theater had to stop hosting rock shows.

[Landdeck] One of the neighbors actually recorded

one of the concerts from their house.

one of the concerts from their house.

And it was so loud that they could listen to every word,

and every beat that was going on.

And they used that recording as a tool to go to court to shut the whole thing down.

[narrator] The theater limped on until closing

as an entertainment venue in 1990,

after struggling to survive without the income from live music.

Today, thanks to a dedicated group of local campaigners,

Today, thanks to a dedicated group of local campaigners,

the future looks bright for the Variety Theatre.

[Landdeck] And they're really enthusiastic

about saving this building that was once so beautiful.

And making it, really at the heart of a rebirth of this neighborhood.

[Zitiello] With modern technology, and sound attenuation measures,

the theater can now be restored for live music.

And without upsetting our neighbors.

And without upsetting our neighbors.

[narrator] Hidden on the Italian island of Sicily

are traces of a bitter conflict.

[Nubia] So this is an idyllic part of Sicily,

looking out towards the Mediterranean Sea.

[Auerbach] A modern road cuts its way through the countryside,

and there's a dusty rise.

and there's a dusty rise.

And if you look closely, it seems there's something built into the hillside.

[Nusbacher] Somebody has built infrastructure to defend this place against a modern attack.

[narrator] 50 miles east is a church that at first,

doesn't appear to bare any scars of this conflict.

[Nubia] Like a subterranean world, another Sicily

lays under this church.

[Nusbacher] You see evidence of ancient devotion, ancient fear of death,

and then airplanes.

[Auerbach] Although these places are 50 miles apart,

they were part of a make or break moment in the war.

[narrator] This moment relied on a grand deception.

Unlike anything that had been attempted before.

[Nusbacher] Nobody would ever believe somebody could try something so desperate,

[Nusbacher] Nobody would ever believe somebody could try something so desperate,

and that's just what they were counting on.

[narrator] Roberto Piccione, is a historian

who has lived in the ancient walled city of Syracuse for more than 50 years.

This is the church of San Filippo in the middle of the old Jewish quarter,

and underground, there is something special.

and underground, there is something special.

[Auerbach] It seems to be going down and down

until you're in this, this labyrinth that might stretch underneath the entire city.

[Piccione] About 2,000 years ago, this was an aqueduct, a Greek aqueduct.

[narrator] But there are signs

that these tunnels were put to a very different use nearly two millennia later.

[Piccione] Here we can see a Messerschmitt, German plane, an Italian plane,

[Piccione] Here we can see a Messerschmitt, German plane, an Italian plane,

and a Stuka.

And here we can see a parachute.

This kind of draw just described what the people saw everyday.

[narrator] From early 1943,

they saw their city mercilessly bombed by the Allies,

and fled to these catacombs to wait out the onslaught.

and fled to these catacombs to wait out the onslaught.

[Nubia] It must have been terrible to have been in these air raid shelters,

and to hear the sounds of war all around you.

And to be afraid of the bomb that lands to the side of you,

may in a minute, land right on top of you.

[narrator] After months of terror,

on the night of July 9th, the cacophony ended.

So when the bombs stopped,

uh, I think that the people asked themselves now what is going to happen?

uh, I think that the people asked themselves now what is going to happen?

And what happened was the invasion.

[narrator] 50 miles west, Italian troops tasked with defending a key route

into the islands interior, waited nervously in the Ponte Dirillo bunkers.

[Piccione] Here we are inside the Ponte Dirillo position,

and here there were about 30 men.

and here there were about 30 men.

We had only light defense,

so machine gun, and gun, and there was only one small cannon.

[narrator] The soldiers here were about to face

the largest Allied invasion force deployed in the war.

Yet, this place was barely defended,

and is one of the few remnants of Axis defenses on Sicily.

You have to ask the question, why do the Nazis fortify France

ahead of the 1944 invasion?

But they're not nearly as intensive about fortifying Sicily?

[narrator] It can, in part, be explained by a daring Allied deception.

[Auerbach] You have a dead body released from a submarine,

[Auerbach] You have a dead body released from a submarine,

fake documents, it's really like something out of a James Bond film.

[narrator] In 1943, with the Nazis desert army defeated in Tunisia,

Allied military strategists were looking for a way to invade fortress Europe.

[Auerbach] The only problem was that the Italian and German forces

knew that the Allied attack

would have to come somewhere along the Southern European coast.

would have to come somewhere along the Southern European coast.

[narrator] Sicily was the obvious choice,

but a battle against a concentrated Axis force, could be disastrous.

So the Allies turned to deception on a grand scale.

Operation Mincemeat.

[Nusbacher] A Spanish fisherman, fishing off the southern coast of Spain,

pulls a badly decomposed dead body out of the water.

pulls a badly decomposed dead body out of the water.

And the body is wearing the battle dress of a Royal Marine major.

[Nubia] He had on his person, a number of plans.

[Auerbach] When the German commanders heard about this discovery,

they thought they had hit the jackpot.

This was worth its weight in gold.

[Nusbacher] What the Germans have got is a plan

for the invasion of Southern Europe

through Greece and the Balkans, and it's a lie.

through Greece and the Balkans, and it's a lie.

[narrator] The bogus plans said that any troops moving towards Sicily

were simply a decoy.

[Nubia] The Axis powers moved their attention away from Sicily,

and many of their armaments, too.

And they weren't ready for an attack there.

[Auerbach] You had two panzer divisions being relocated from the Eastern Front.

You had seven divisions set up in Greece, you had another ten set up in the Balkans.

You had seven divisions set up in Greece, you had another ten set up in the Balkans.

It was a massive redistribution of forces

for an invasion that was gonna come in a completely different place.

[narrator] Sicily's physical defenses were also neglected.

The bunkers at Ponte Dirillo are one of the few remaining signs of war on the island.

[Nubia] It doesn't appear as if it's a place ready

to defend itself from a major assault, and it wasn't.

to defend itself from a major assault, and it wasn't.

[narrator] July 9, 1943, in the dead of night

thousands of Allied paratroopers descend onto the island.

Their mission, to secure key positions like Ponte Dirillo.

The Americans landed from, uh, from these hills that we can see in front.

There was a total of about 100 paratroopers from different groups

There was a total of about 100 paratroopers from different groups

that attacked this strongpoint.

All these marks are American bullets everywhere.

[Auerbach] After a very short, but fierce battle,

they manage to capture the bunker complex.

It was supposed to take an entire infantry regiment to capture this,

but that hadn't even landed in Sicily yet.

[narrator] When the main landing force arrived on the nearby beaches,

Axis opposition on Sicily's southern shores was soon washed away.

[Piccione] They had witnesses,

like my father told me that it was impossible to see the sea.

Everywhere there were landing craft, mercenary ships.

[Auerbach] Over the next three days, the invasion involved

3,000 ships, 150,000 Allied troops, and 4,000 aircraft.

3,000 ships, 150,000 Allied troops, and 4,000 aircraft.

And opposing them was a relatively modest German force of only two divisions.

The German leadership still thought that the main attack was gonna come elsewhere.

[narrator] In just under six weeks of bitter fighting,

the entire island was controlled by Allied troops.

[Auerbach] Operation Mincemeat wasn't the only reason

that the Axis were defeated in Sicily, but it was a really important aspect of it.

that the Axis were defeated in Sicily, but it was a really important aspect of it.

[Nusbacher] They don't have an easy time of it, but they have a much easier time

than if the Germans had concentrated force there to stop them.

[narrator] The success of this invasion helped turn the tide of the war.

[Nubia] For the first time, the Allies were beginning to take back Europe.

[narrator] Today, a memorial stands at Ponte Dirillo

in tribute to the U.S. troops who gave their lives there.

For Roberto, these sacrifices must never be forgotten.

[Piccione] It doesn't matter if they were British, American, Italian or German.

They were young guys that lose their life in Sicily.

So it's important to remember this part of history

for avoid that this will not happen again.

for avoid that this will not happen again.

[narrator] In Croatia, on the outskirts of Dubrovnik,

is a once opulent structure that fell victim to tragic circumstance.

[Bell] Just a short distance from one of the oldest cities in Europe,

perched on the side of a cliff, is a very big,

perched on the side of a cliff, is a very big,

and very modern looking building.

It doesn't appear to be in too bad shape,

but the closer you get, you realize that's not at all the case.

The whole thing's an absolute mess.

[narrator] Amidst the destruction are traces of a glorious past.

[Wawro] There seems to be sorta this panoramic restaurant,

and then a terrace with swimming pool.

[Pedrick] Inside all the rooms look identical,

[Pedrick] Inside all the rooms look identical,

and they've been stripped bare, except for a few broken toilets, and old bathtubs.

[Bell] But the views out are still fantastic.

It's picture postcard stuff everywhere you look.

[Wawro] You can tell in its day this place was spectacular!

[narrator] Yet, the architectural style

suggests a building only four decades old.

[Bell] And that makes you think that something very sudden,

[Bell] And that makes you think that something very sudden,

and quite terrible happened here.

[narrator] But from the ruins, a pop culture legend was born.

[Pedrick] A lot of people know Dubrovnik from the series Game of Thrones.

[Bell] This is where one of the most shocking scenes

in the entire series was filmed.

[narrator] In the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, is a once lavish structure.

Ivan Vukovic grew up nearby, and has many fond memories of the time he spent here.

This is a place where I came with my parents.

It was my playground, it was a part of my childhood.

Everybody loved to come here because it was a pure luxury,

Everybody loved to come here because it was a pure luxury,

and look at it now.

It's like the days of glory are over.

[Pedrick] When construction began in the mid-80's,

Croatia was actually still a part of Socialist Yugoslavia,

and it was approaching a pretty important juncture in its history.

And this building has really come to represent that.

[narrator] Croatia was one of the wealthier Yugoslav nations,

[narrator] Croatia was one of the wealthier Yugoslav nations,

and this construction was part of an ambitious plan

to further boost the local economy.

[Vukovic] It's very unusual to get something like this

in the times of the 80's or before,

because at that time, everybody had to be equal.

That's some of the theories of socialism.

[Pedrick] Under socialist rule,

the focus was on primary and secondary industries like mining and factories.

the focus was on primary and secondary industries like mining and factories.

[Bell] This building was designed to make money for the country,

but in an entirely different way.

This was built to attract wealthy, Western tourists.

[narrator] This is the Hotel Belvedere.

It first welcomed guests in 1985.

[Vukovic] Uh, this place is one of the rooms

of 200 in total of Hotel Belvedere.

of 200 in total of Hotel Belvedere.

I found one list, who was here, how much money they spend,

and the date is July 25, 1990.

They are mostly people coming from the west, Spain, U.S., United Kingdom.

Croatians never had a hotel like this.

[Wawro] This place had everything, it had an indoor pool, it had an outdoor pool,

[Wawro] This place had everything, it had an indoor pool, it had an outdoor pool,

it had international cuisine, it had a discotheque, it even had a helipad.

[Pedrick] I mean, imagine what it would have been like.

Looking out over the Adriatic, drinking a cocktail,

it must have been fantastic.

[narrator] It wasn't just wealthy Western tourists lured in by all the luxury on offer.

[Vukovic] My mother could come and spend her money

to buy some exclusive things in exclusive shops,

to buy some exclusive things in exclusive shops,

and my father was freaking out

while he was sitting in his tavern just one deck below.

In its first six years of operation,

it gained a reputation as one of Europe's finest hotels.

[narrator] The future was looking very bright, indeed.

[Bell] But by 1991, a new Yugoslav leader was emerging.

[Bell] But by 1991, a new Yugoslav leader was emerging.

One that would tear apart the Balkan States,

and usher in the end of Hotel Belvedere.

[Wawro] Slobodan Milosevic's idea is that he's gonna concentrate Yugoslav power

in his own homeland of Serbia and it's capital, Belgrade.

And he's going to take power from the other regions,

like Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and transport it to Serbia.

[Pedrick] As far as Croatia was concerned,

there was no way they were going to let that happen.

there was no way they were going to let that happen.

They wanted independence.

[Wawro] Civil war ensues,

and there's battling over every key area, including Dubrovnik,

which the Serbs want because of its tourist potential.

[narrator] At 6:00 a.m. on October 1, 1991, the siege of Dubrovnik began.

[Bell] It was attacked from the land, from the sea, and from the air

[Bell] It was attacked from the land, from the sea, and from the air

by the Yugoslav National Army.

[Vukovic] I remember clearly that day because it was sunny,

and I asked my mother, "What is that thunderstorm coming from the south?"

Because I was a kid, I was 11 years old,

unfortunately the war started, hell broke loose.

[narrator] Strategically positioned on the route to Dubrovnik's old town,

Croatian troops rushed to fortify the hotel.

Croatian troops rushed to fortify the hotel.

[Bell] If Yugoslav troops broke through here, the city would fall.

[narrator] In October, 1991,

the Hotel Belvedere had become a key defensive position during the siege of Dubrovnik.

Croatian troops were holed up inside, as the Yugoslav military advanced.

[Vukovic] There was lots of direct hits

from the cannons from their navy,

and lots of the mortars were falling around.

So when you walk around hotel,

you don't see any, any window that is still in one place.

It's all shattered glass around.

[narrator] Dubrovnik's vicious bombardment lasted seven long months.

But the hotel was never taken by Yugoslav troops.

[Vukovic] We now had Croatia won the war,

[Vukovic] We now had Croatia won the war,

so you have to be, like, relieved, or happy, and then you see the aftermath.

Many people lost their lives for freedom.

It was very, very hard because when the war ends, it takes time to recover.

Yugoslavia built it, and then Yugoslavia destroyed it.

[Wawro] After the war, there's some thought to restoring the Hotel Belvedere,

but the damage was so extensive

that it was decided that it was just not feasible.

that it was decided that it was just not feasible.

[narrator] Even after the bombing stopped,

terrible dangers remained for many years to come.

[Vukovic] So after this hotel was abandoned, this became my playground.

I was playing here in these bushes, and I saw something which looked like a toy.

I picked it up, and took it to my dad's place.

My dad said, "Don't move, it's not a toy, it's a cluster bomb."

My dad said, "Don't move, it's not a toy, it's a cluster bomb."

There's no need for me to play any lottery, to win any jackpots,

because I survived the cluster bomb.

I think I won my jackpot. Like 40-something years ago.

[Pedrick] If there's something eerily familiar about the amphitheater,

that's because in 2013, it became the location for something different,

when Game of Thrones came to town.

when Game of Thrones came to town.

[Bell] This is where Oberyn fought The Mountain in what was an epic battle.

[Vukovic] The scene was called "Trial By Combat",

and they'd been fighting in this area, where all the extras were cheering,

and being on the side mostly of Oberyn Martell.

[Pedrick] No spoilers,

but this scene was something that once you see it, you can't unsee it.

[narrator] The original Game of Thrones series may now be over,

[narrator] The original Game of Thrones series may now be over,

but the hotel's final chapter, is still yet to be written.

[Bell] In 2014, it was bought by a Russian oligarch

for 12,000,000 Euros.

And he has plans to turn this into a grand seven star hotel,

so it's glory days may yet still return.

[Vukovic] I would love to see it brand new.

To look at it through the brand new window, brand new balcony,

To look at it through the brand new window, brand new balcony,

and still having this amazing views of the city, and surrounding areas.

[narrator] In Western Turkey, mysterious white rocks jut out over the landscape.

[Mitchell] From afar, these rocks look soft and ethereal,

like something out of a fairy-tale.

[Selwood] It's creased with stalactites,

and tessellated with hundreds of pools of sparkling turquoise water.

[narrator] Though striking,

these rocks are hiding something even more extraordinary.

[Selwood] Behind this glistening hillside is a whole hidden world.

A world that dates back over 2,000 years.

[Mitchell] If you just happen to be driving on the wrong side of the road,

[Mitchell] If you just happen to be driving on the wrong side of the road,

you wouldn't even know that it existed.

[Bell] It exudes a mysterious charm.

There are these tumbled down stone buildings.

[narrator] This city was once renowned across the ancient world.

People travelled hundreds of miles to come to be buried in this place,

because of the magical powers people said it possessed.

This site helps develop one of the most powerful religions of the modern world.

[narrator] Until recently, it has been shrouded in secrecy.

[narrator] Until recently, it has been shrouded in secrecy.

[Selwood] This ancient city has a poisonous secret,

one that laid buried for thousands of years.

[narrator] Dr. Inci Turkoglu is a historian

who has been working to piece together the truth about Hierapolis.

[Turkoglu] This is the modern city gate,

and from it starts the main artery of the town.

This city was full of people.

This city was full of people.

A lot of textile business and industry,

and there was also a very strong tourism business.

[narrator] The city grew because of the mysterious white rocks that surround it.

[Mitchell] These otherworldly formations are travertines, and they're limestone cliffs

that slowly formed over 400,000 years due to bubbling mineral springs.

[Selwood] As the water flows down the hillside, it degasses,

[Selwood] As the water flows down the hillside, it degasses,

leaving behind a bright white trail of calcium carbonate.

It's this process that creates the wonderland of pools and terraces.

[narrator] Said to possess healing powers,

when it came under Roman rule in the 2nd century, BC,

Hierapolis drew visitors from across the empire.

[Selwood] This was the health resort of the ancients.

[Bell] The rich came here and the frail came here to spend their final years.

[Mitchell] Because of this, the necropolis

reflects the cultures of many different regions.

[Bell] This is one of the largest cities of the dead

to have ever existed.

[narrator] But the popularity of this city had a more bizarre side to it.

One that has remained a mystery for centuries.

[Bell] Legend says that this place houses a mysterious portal to the underworld,

[Bell] Legend says that this place houses a mysterious portal to the underworld,

and apparently, it's not all just hearsay.

[narrator] Once a thriving spa resort,

the ancient city of Hierapolis in Turkey had a darker side to its prosperity.

[Selwood] It was said to be the location of a gate to hell,

a portal to the underworld.

Where the toxic breath of the three-headed hellhound, Cerberus,

Where the toxic breath of the three-headed hellhound, Cerberus,

flowed out of the ground.

Claiming unsuspecting victims on behalf of his master, Pluto.

[Bell] Legends say, those who dared to approach the grotto

dropped dead immediately, and were taken away to the underworld.

[narrator] Known as Pluto's gate,

pilgrims travelled from far and wide to watch its priests performing arcane rights.

[Turkoglu] The main, uh, focus involved sacrifice of animals, especially bulls,

[Turkoglu] The main, uh, focus involved sacrifice of animals, especially bulls,

to the god and goddess.

[Mitchell] An important part of the ceremony was dragging in the live animal,

and then dragging out the dead animal.

[narrator] It wasn't only animals that entered this gate to hell,

but the priests themselves.

[Turkoglu] What they did was, they walked into the cave, and they came out alive.

And this was very shocking for the common people,

because no other living beings came out alive.

[Bell] The priests sold birds and other animals to the visitors,

so they could try out for themselves to see just how deadly this area was.

[Mitchell] It's hard to imagine these dramatic scenes even being real.

Surely, they're just a fable.

[narrator] It's existence was debated for millennia.

Until a series of miraculous discoveries were made in the early 2010's.

[Turkoglu] The head of excavations started, uh, surveys,

[Turkoglu] The head of excavations started, uh, surveys,

and when they reached, uh, town, they found the arch,

and they found the, uh, inscription stating that it was dedicated to Pluto.

[narrator] The myths were, indeed, based on fact.

[Turkoglu] There is a round arched, uh, gate, a doorway,

uh, where the poisonous gas come out.

And, uh, the would find, uh, birds fallen dead on the ground.

And, uh, the would find, uh, birds fallen dead on the ground.

[narrator] Though Pluto's gate existed, one major mystery remained.

How did the priests survive, when the animals all died?

The man that solved the ancient mystery

was a volcano biologist from Germany.

He discovered that whereas normal air contains just .04% CO2,

the air around the shrine contained 80%.

the air around the shrine contained 80%.

Just a few minutes exposure to 10% carbon dioxide can kill you.

[Selwood] How the priests survived, was actually very simple.

They realized that if they held their breath while inside,

they survived, while the animals died.

[narrator] But the grotto's days were numbered.

A new religion was sweeping across the Roman Empire,

and Hierapolis was about to change forever.

[Turkoglu] The building behind us now, is the Martyrium of St. Philip,

one of the 12 Apostles of Christ.

Philip challenged the worshippers of the serpents

in the nearby temple, and so he was arrested, and hung upside down.

According to one story, the ground, uh, cracked open, and bystanders

nearby watching this, uh, execution, also were swallowed down into the earth.

[narrator] Philp was one of many of Jesus' followers

[narrator] Philp was one of many of Jesus' followers

who set out upon his death to spread the word of Christianity.

[Turkoglu] At the beginning, Christianity was somewhat underground, persecuted,

but finally, in 313, Constantine The Great,

decided, uh, to give freedom to Christian faith.

[narrator] With the new religion, came the end of the grotto.

[Bell] Christians filled Pluto's gate with stones,

due to it being a symbolic location for paganism.

[narrator] Hierapolis continued to thrive under Christian belief,

but it was about to be dealt a severe blow.

[Mitchell] The very thing that made this place so prosperous and renowned,

was the very thing that destroyed it.

[narrator] In the early 7th century, a massive earthquake hit the region.

[Turkoglu] In Hierapolis, all the big monuments fell down, and many people died.

[Turkoglu] In Hierapolis, all the big monuments fell down, and many people died.

It can be considered ironic that, uh, the reason for the thermal springs

is the seismic fault line, and it led to its final abandonment,

but it's not the only reason.

[narrator] Due to its position, earthquakes were inevitable.

But another force was about to hit Hierapolis,

and this time the city couldn't bounce back.

and this time the city couldn't bounce back.

[Selwood] The Ottoman Army advanced, and invaded Hierapolis.

By 1334, when yet another devastating earthquake hit,

Hierapolis was finally abandoned.

[Bell] With no one here to maintain the city, and control the spring waters,

the ruins were slowly submerged in their own calcified waters.

[narrator] For centuries, the city laid buried and forgotten,

until it was rediscovered in 1887.

Today, people still flock to it's hot springs,

but many secrets are believed to remain hidden below these white hills.