Malebolge

In Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of the Divine Comedy, Malebolge (English: /ˌmælɪˈbɒldʒ/ MAL-ib-OLJ, Italian: [ˌmaleˈbɔldʒe]; lit.

[1] It is a large, funnel-shaped cavern, itself divided into ten concentric circular trenches or ditches, each called a bolgia (Italian for 'pouch' or 'ditch').

They are turned upside down in large baptismal fonts cut into the rock, with their feet set ablaze by oily fires.

Barrators (speculators, extortionists, blackmailers and unscrupulous businessmen: sinners who used their positions in life to gain personal wealth or other advantages for themselves) are punished by being thrown into a river of boiling pitch and tar.

In addition, should any of the grafters try to escape the pitch, a horde of demons known as Malebranche, armed with grappling hooks and barbs, stand guard over them, ready to tear them to pieces.

Also, Caiaphas, the Pharisee who insisted on the execution of Jesus, and all of the Sanhedrin are crucified in this circle, staked to the ground so that the ranks of the lead-weighted hypocrites march across him.

[5] In Inferno 25, the pilgrim witnesses a group of Florentine nobles violently latch onto each other, transmuting their bodies into a monstrous hybrid.

[4] Vanni Fucci delivers a prophecy about Dante's fate in Florence before throwing an obscene gesture towards God and is punished by the centaur Cacus.

[4][6] In Inferno 26, the pilgrim meets Ulysses and Diomedes, in the form of twin flames, who are placed in this bolgia for using the Trojan Horse as a trap to besiege Troy and for deceiving Achilles to war.

[6][4] In Inferno 27, the pilgrim encounters Guido da Montefeltro, who was placed in this bolgia for providing fraudulent advice that lead in exchange for a promise of salvation from Pope Boniface VIII.

[4] He first asks the pilgrim about the current state of affairs in Florence before narrating what led to his downfall and eventual placement in Hell.

Among those who are tormented here is Muhammad, prophet of Islam and his son-in-law and successor Ali, who both eviscerate their own bodies, and Bertran de Born, alleged agitator of the Revolt of 1173–74, who carries around his severed head like a lantern.

The lower edge of Malebolge is guarded by a ring of titans and earth giants, many of whom are chained in place as punishment for their rebellion against God.