Hell’s Gate

An urban geofiction project by Greg Wochlik (Johannesburg, South Africa).

Hell’s Gate is so named due to its passage through a mountain pass with an active volcano (one of those open ‘pit’ types). By law, travelers must stop and rest in at the city. Often all the crossings to Leonard’s Town are closed due to the volcanic activity, often for as long as 3 to 4 days. The residents are known to take in the stranded travelers into their homes, when all the hotels and B&Bs are full. Besides the numerous Bed & Breakfast establishments (“BB” on the map), Hell’s gate boasts a racetrack. Certain lucky residents have direct access to it from their properties! There are a few mines in the area, but the main mineral that is purified in the city is Sulphur. The population of this District Capital is quite small at approximately 20,000 residents.

This is the first computer drawn city I ever did. She took about 35 hours of manual drafting. The payware IMSI TurboCAD is more suited for architectural and mechanical drawings. It was drawn and printed on an ISO-A3 page, then scanned back into the computer. The map is based on the format of a South African commercial map studio. The map is also unusual that I have chosen West as up. The scale is 1:20000.

Hell's Gate city map

Hell’s Gate city map