Purgatory. It’s not a place you want to be.
“A place or state of temporary suffering or misery,” is how Merriam-Webster defines it.
Over centuries, various faiths regarded purgatory as a journey through purifying flames, a punitive passage for the unrepentant, a station where souls not quite divine must labor to correct lives misspent.
The word purgatory shares its etymology with purge and purify, suggesting a need to cleanse the indecent, debased, and otherwise sullied natures of our too-human selves.
A curious choice then for the name of a beautiful public park. But not so odd that it hasn’t been made multiple times. Purgatory Chasm State Reservation in Sutton, Mass. carries the moniker. So, too, Purgatory Chasm in Middletown, R.I., and Purgatory Falls in New Hampshire. Cavers in Vermont can explore Purgatory Pit.
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Misnomer or apt description? Visitors to Sutton and Middletown mused on the nature of the name and how the parks’ beauty and serenity belied the associations it conjures. Others said the dramatic geological formations make the name a fitting metaphor.
In Middletown, R.I., the rocky cliff of Purgatory Chasm near Second Beach towers over the Atlantic, a sheer drop to the tides with a narrow, vertigo-inducing slash into the stone just wider than you’d want to jump. The pounding waves cut into that gap for 150 feet, ending on a claustrophobic beach no bigger than a picnic blanket. The tiny parking lot allows a stay of only 30 minutes, suggesting that this is one purgatory where enlightenment comes quickly.
Corbin Rodrigues of Warren, R.I., leaned over the railing of a small wooden bridge that spans the gash in the rock and said: “Maybe you’re already suffering and you’re already in misery when you come here, and you leave it behind when you leave because the park is so beautiful and there’s beautiful sights and it takes your mind off your misery and your suffering and you leave it in purgatory.’'
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As his voice trailed off, he smiled out at the Atlantic.
At the edge of the cliff nearby, Craig Bennett of Chicago couldn’t decide if the name was appropriate.
“This is one of the more beautiful views of the Atlantic from the Newport area. Just the opposite of the suggestion of the name,” he said. But, he continued, “If you look down into the chasm, it kind of goes down into this dark abyss. ... I like to think I’ve lived a life that will take me in the other direction.
“This would be kind of a neat place to purge,” Bennett added. “You look out over the ocean and reflect about where your humble place in life is and leave it all behind in the pit behind us.”
In Sutton, sheer walls of 70 feet loom over visitors descending Purgatory Chasm’s steep trail. Boulders and caves nicknamed Devil’s Coffin and Devil’s Corncrib taunt visitors, who can roam two miles of leafy trails and snap selfies by a waterfall. Purification may or may not be earned in this purgatory, but parking will set you back $15.
With legs crossed on a jutting ledge, Aili Schiavoni paused her meditation to reveal she’d read Purgatorio, the second entry of 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy.”
“It goes into describing Dante’s ascent into Heaven. Purgatory is set up like a mountain, and you’re just slowly climbing your way up it,” Schiavoni said. And I was just thinking it was really interesting because Purgatory Chasm — it’s a chasm and you start at the bottom and you go up to the top if you want. And that’s kind of the idea behind purgatory.’'
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Asked if she had some sins to purge, she laughed. “People with sins are a lot more interesting than the people without.’'
Scrambling over the boulders with her grandkids, Elaine Marcel of Swansea was certain that Purgatory Chasm was well-named. “I did feel like I was working off a couple of past sins. Oh, the knees there!”
Her husband, Bill Marcel, agreed. “Been coming for 50 years. I’m not a deep thought person. But it gets a lot steeper as you get older,” he said. “I’m 72. I want to get to 73 so just get me out of here!”
Looking down from the lip of the chasm, Kara Wong of Virginia Beach, Va., described purgatory as “a place where people go to be judged.” She laughed as she speculated on how that might go for her. “Send me down, boys!”
For Kyle Fish, visiting with Sofia Fogel, that judgment was unnecessary. “We feel like we’re already in heaven,” he said.
Lane Turner can be reached at lane.turner@globe.com.