Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Faustův Dům (Faust House)

Discover Faustův Dům (Faust House) in Prague, Czechia: A Baroque mansion with ties to legendary magicians and alchemists.

Dawson-Bailey Spring Site

Discover Dawson-Bailey Spring Site in Arlington, Virginia: This site is believed to be connected to the oldest house in Arlington County.

Niels Bohr’s Grave

Discover Niels Bohr's Grave in Copenhagen, Denmark: The final resting place of one of the brightest physicists of the 20th century.

Public Utility Conduits of Ginza

Discover Public Utility Conduits of Ginza in Tokyo, Japan: Peer into this window for an interesting glimpse into the public utilities that make this city run.

Little Finland

Discover Little Finland in Bunkerville, Nevada: Harder layers in colorful sandstone weather out as prominent “fins" and even more intricate and bizarre shapes.

Our Lady of the Good Star

Discover Nossa Senhora da Boa Estrela (Our Lady of the Good Star) in Unhais da Serra, Portugal: A small sanctuary carved into the mountainside near the tallest point in continental Portugal.

Hiakai

Discover Hiakai in Wellington, New Zealand: This fine-dining restaurant features native New Zealand ingredients and Māori cooking.

Trishund Ganpati Temple

Discover Trishund Ganpati Temple in Pune, India: This basalt temple in the center of Pune was built more than 250 years ago.

Kistefos Museum

Discover Kistefos Museum in Jevnaker, Norway: The grounds and buildings of an old wood pulp mill have been transformed into an innovative art park and museum.

Mascarons of Pont Neuf

Discover Mascarons of Pont Neuf in Paris, France: If you look closely at the oldest bridge in Paris, you might notice hundreds of ugly faces leering from its sides.

‘Mr Poetry’

Discover 'Mr Poetry' in Fitzroy, Australia: A tribute to local poet and music journalist Adrian Rawlins.

Velvet

Discover Velvet in Berlin, Germany: Taste freshly foraged yarrow and black locust blossoms at this ambitious cocktail bar.

Velvet

Discover Velvet in Berlin, Germany: Foraged yarrow and black locust blossoms are on the menu at this ambitious cocktail bar.

The Intermittent Fountain of Fontesborbes

Discover Fontaine Intermittente de Fontestorbes in Bélesta, France: Every half hour, the flow of this unusual spring cycles between a rush of water and barely a trickle.

Mount Tarrengower Lookout Tower

Discover Mount Tarrengower Lookout Tower in Maldon, Australia: A timber transport car and a team of horses were needed to carry this lookout to the top of Mount Tarrengower in the 1920s.

Richard Proenneke Museum

Discover Richard Proenneke Museum in Donnellson, Iowa: A replica of the self-taught naturalist's iconic cabin stands inside a library near his hometown.

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

PP ToS