City of Dis
| “ | We moved toward the city, secure in our holy cause, and beheld such a fortress. And on every hand I saw a great plain of woe and cruel torment. Bitter tombs were scattered with flame made to glow all over, hotter than iron need be for any craft. And such dire laments issued forth as come only from those who are truly wretched, suffering and forever lost! | „ |
| ~ Belial |
Dis, also known as the Iron City of Dis, is a grand city in Hell, which is often said to be sixth circle of the realm or the pathway to the sixth circle.
Description[]
Most of the buildings are built out of dark stone, climbing for many stories. The architecture is hooked to the corner as the monolithic deep reds, blacks, and grays, nothing belies an exterior that would seem to be welcoming to a traveling pack of people. At the center, visible everywhere in the city, is the Iron Tower, an impossibly colossal tower of black iron and lead that stretches for hundreds of miles into the sky before vanishing into the dark, clouded expanse. The Iron Tower is the throne of Belial and stands ever-vigilant over Dis.
Within the city lays, the unbaptised and then those who sinned by self-indulgence, the lustful, the gluttons, the misers and spendthrifts, and at the outskirts of the red-hot walls of the City of Dis are the wrathful and those of ill-will.
From this point on there was sinners who acted out of malice and wickedness. Immediately within the walls of the City are the Heretics, who, having disbelieved in immortality are forever imprisoned in red-hot tombs. Beyond are rings of those who were violent, to others, to themselves (suicides), to God (blasphemers), to art (usurers), and to nature (sexual perverts). Beyond the ruins of Dis are the frauds and corruptors, and finally the traitors.
The walls of Dis are guarded by Balrogs, the Furies, and Medusa.
History[]
Divine Comedy[]
When Dante Alighieri first enters Dis, he encountered the unbaptised and then those who sinned by self-indulgence—the lustful, the gluttons, the misers and spendthrifts—and at the outskirts of the red-hot walls of City of Dis are the wrathful and those of ill-will.
From this point on there was sinners who acted out of malice and wickedness. Immediately within the walls of the City are the Heretics, who, having disbelieved in immortality are forever imprisoned in red-hot tombs. Beyond are rings of those who were violent—to others, to themselves (suicides), to God (blasphemers), to art (usurers), and to nature (sexual perverts). Beyond the ruins of Dis are the frauds and corruptors, and finally the traitors.
The walls and gates of Dis are guarded by fallen angels like Balrogs, the Furies and Medusa who threaten Dante and Virgil and refuse them access. An angel of God ultimately descends to allow them passage into the city, destroying one of the walls. Dante emphasizes the character of the city by describing its architectural features: towers, gates, walls, ramparts, bridges, and moats. It is thus an antithesis to the heavenly city.
Among these structures are mosques, "the worship places of the most dangerous enemies of medieval Christendom." In Dante's schematics of Hell, some Muslims and Jews are placed among the heretics. The presence of mosques probably also recalls the reality of Jerusalem in Dante's own time, where gilded domes dominated the skyline.
Inhabitants[]
- Belial - Co-Ruler
- Ose - Noble President
- Medusa
- Erinyes
- Fallen Angels
Trivia[]
- Dis is the second largest city in all of Hell, only surpassed by Pandemonium itself.
- While Leviathan also rules the city, he rarely interferes in its affairs, allowing Belial to fully rule it while he deals with the Hellmouth.