Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Titeuf Statue

Discover Titeuf Statue in Carouge, Switzerland: A statue of the Swiss cartoon character stands outside the school that inspired his creator.

Jahrtausendturm (Millennium Tower)

Discover Jahrtausendturm (Millennium Tower) in Magdeburg, Germany: A six-story, asymmetrical tower filled to the brim with scientific experiments.

El Batey

Discover El Batey in San Juan, Puerto Rico: Everyone from Alan Ginsberg to The Rolling Stones has stopped by this classic dive bar.

Schoner Naci

Discover Schoner Naci in Bratislava, Slovakia:.

San Remo Pelicans

Discover San Remo Pelicans in San Remo, Australia: Locals have a long-running relationship with the big-beaked birds of this Australian fishing town.

Flatwoods Monster Museum

Discover Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, West Virginia: West Virginia is steeped in strange lore, and one of the weirdest is the Flatwoods Monster.

La Pierre Percée

Discover La Pierre Percée in Pierre-Châtel, France: According to a local legend, this peculiar mountaintop rock formation is actually a demon that was turned into stone.

Statue of Imre Nagy

Discover Statue of Imre Nagy in Budapest, Hungary: A much-loved sculpture depicting the hero of a 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.

Gregynog Hall

Discover Gregynog Hall in Tregynon, Wales: A grand mansion in rural mid-Wales gifted to the Welsh people by two sisters.

Valley of 10,000 Smokes

Discover Valley of 10,000 Smokes in King Salmon, Alaska: In 1912, this idyllic Alaskan landscape was blown apart in the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

Hand of St. Etheldreda

Discover Hand of St. Etheldreda in London, England: One of the oldest remaining Catholic churches in England is home to the hand of a 7th-century saint.

Palais de l’Île

Discover Palais de l’Île in Annecy, France: Fortified palace in the shape of a ship on the Thiou River.

Huntsman & Sons

Discover Huntsman & Sons in London, England: The real clothing store that inspired a fictional spy organization's front.

Peter-Lenk-Brunnen

Discover Peter-Lenk-Brunnen in Konstanz, Germany: Visitors may notice something strange walking through this quaint German town.

Bob Gasoi Memorial Art Alley

Discover Bob Gasoi Memorial Art Alley in Provincetown, Massachusetts: Mural fragments and various sculptures honor the longtime artist.

Chateau Hutter

Discover Chateau Hutter in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin: Built by an accountant with a dream of running a grand resort, this estate has sat spent half a century vacant and crumbling.

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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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