The presence of mosques probably also recalls the reality of Jerusalem in Dante's own time, where gilded domes dominated the skyline. Among these structures are mosques, 'the worship places of the most dangerous enemies of medieval Christendom.' In Dante's schematics of Hell, Muslims and Jews are placed among the heretics. It is thus an antithesis to the heavenly city, as for instance described by St. Dante emphasizes the character of the place as a city by describing its architectural features: towers, gates, walls, ramparts, bridges, and moats. The walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels and the Erinyes. Dis is extremely hot, and contains areas more closely resembling the common modern conception of Hell than the upper levels. The most serious sins are punished here, in lower Hell. In Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, the City of Dis encompasses the sixth through the ninth circles of Hell.
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