This touristy place in Turkmenistan has been burning for 53 years

Despite seeming like something from a low-budget horror movie, the "Gates of Hell" is an enigmatic gas crater that has been burning for 52 years.

The origins of Darvaza Crater, sometimes known as the "Gateway to Hell," remain a mystery, yet it is still one of Turkmenistan's most visited tourist destinations.

Some speculate that it resulted from an unsuccessful Soviet gas field drilling operation.

It was thought that a gas cavern was hit, causing the drilling rig to fall in and the earth to collapse underneath it.

In order to stop the harmful vapours from spreading, the Soviets then made the decision to burn off the gas by lighting it on fire.

The local Turkmen geologists believe that the fire didn't start until the 1980s, and that the crater developed in the 1960s.

In 2013, Canadian explorer George Kourounis explored the crater all the way to the bottom and came to the conclusion that it's really not clear how it formed.

Whatever triggered it was supposed to burn out in a few weeks, but 53 years later, it's still burning strong, leaving behind a crater that's almost 65 feet deep and 230 feet wide.

In honour of the desert where it burns, the president formally named it the "Shining of Karakum" in 2018.