Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Rock Hill’s Poetree

Discover Rock Hill's Poetree in Rock Hill, South Carolina: Down an unsuspecting alley resides a tree of poems.

Fantagraphics

A bookstore with an entire room dedicated to damaged and forlorn comic books.

Dusty Strings

This music school doubles as a store for unique, hand-crafted, and hard-to-find instruments.

Cogswell Memorial Fountain

Discover Cogswell Memorial Fountain in Rockville, Connecticut: Dr. Henry Cogswell hoped that his elaborate drinking fountains would dissuade people from drinking alcohol.

Rory Gallagher Corner

Discover Rory Gallagher Corner in Dublin, Ireland: A guitar mounted on a wall in Temple Bar honors the Irish musician.

Multicaja-Zaragoza Sundial

Discover Reloj Solar Multicaja-Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain: The world's largest sundial can cast a shadow more than 1,600 feet long.

Seven Tubs at Pinchot State Forest

Discover Seven Tubs at Pinchot State Forest in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: Narrow gorges and deep pools created by long-ago glaciers.

The Narnia Window

Discover The Narnia Window in Headington, England: Beside the pew where C.S. Lewis often sat while attending church, a window filled with characters from his beloved stories.

Forgotten Cannons of Sine Saloum

Discover Forgotten Cannons of Sine Saloum in Mar Lodj, Senegal: This rusting artillery is a relic of Vichy France's influence in West Africa.

Everly Brothers Monument

Discover Everly Brothers Monument in Central City, Kentucky: Home to a monument dedicated to the American Rock duo along with a collection of music memorabilia.

Ned Kelly’s House

Discover Ned Kelly's House in Beveridge, Australia: From this modest childhood home, Ned Kelly went on to become Australia’s most infamous bushranger.

San Sebastian Church

Discover San Sebastian Church in Manila, Philippines: A church made of steel.

Coal Creek Library

Discover Coal Creek Library in Baldwin City, Kansas: One of the oldest continually operated libraries in Kansas.

Blériot Memorial

Discover Blériot Memorial in Dover, England: A granite plane marks the site where a French aviator completed the first airplane flight across the English channel.

Tsaghkunk Restaurant

Discover Tsaghkunk Restaurant in Tsaghkunk, Armenia: This modern tandoor eatery was once a canteen for Soviet farmers.

Menu

i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 261 ii
To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design. 480 iii
To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared. 514 iv
To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history. 642 ix
To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals. 137 v
To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change. 172 vi
To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria). 256 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 151 viii
To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features. 98 x
To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. 168

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