Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Te Paki Sand Dunes

Discover Te Paki Sand Dunes in Cape Reinga, New Zealand: Mounds of fine golden sand that can rise nearly 500 feet tall.

Gowar School Ruins

Discover Gowar School Ruins in Gower, Australia: This school was established during the height of the Australian Gold Rush.

Kaisariani Shooting Range

Discover Kaisariani Shooting Range in Kesariani, Greece: A memorial dedicated to a tragic event during the Axis occupation of Greece.

Mouse’s Tank

Discover Mouse's Tank in Moapa Valley, Nevada: Named after an outlaw who used the basin as a hideout.

Aberdovey Time and Tide Bell

Discover Aberdovey Time and Tide Bell in Aberdyfi, Wales: According to legend, this bell once belonged to a kingdom now lost beneath the waves.

Kothari Pyau

Discover Kothari Pyau in Mumbai, India: Constructed in 1923, this is one of several heritage drinking fountains across Mumbai.

COURAGE Statue

Discover COURAGE Statue in Fitzroy, Australia: This sculpture was designed to encourage viewers to be true to themselves.

Koutammakou

Discover Koutammakou in Dissani, Togo: The unique building practices of the Batammariba reflect the community's deep reverence for and connection to the earth.

Josephine School Community Museum

Discover Josephine School Community Museum in Berryville, Virginia: A renovated schoolhouse that highlights the history of Clarke County's Black community.

Cowboy Dinner Tree

Discover Cowboy Dinner Tree in Silver Lake, Oregon: Eat like a "buckaroo" at this remote restaurant.

Miradouro da Lua (Viewpoint of the Moon)

Discover Miradouro da Lua (Viewpoint of the Moon) in Belas, Angola: This striking otherworldly landscape outside Angola's capital city is the product of millions of years of erosion.

The Last Bilby Tower

Discover Bilby Tower in Osgood, Indiana: The last example of an innovative piece of surveying equipment now stands in its inventor's hometown.

Stone Lady of Black Hammer

Discover Stone Lady of Black Hammer in Black Hammer Township, Minnesota: This cairn in the shape of a woman has looked over a tiny Minnesota town for well over a century.

Panum Crater

Discover Panum Crater in Lee Vining, California: A volcanic cone that formed over 600 years ago.

Burwell-Morgan Mill

Discover Burwell-Morgan Mill in Millwood, Virginia: Little has changed in the way that this mill operates since the 18th-century.

Extraterrestrial Highway Sign

Discover Extraterrestrial Highway Sign in Rachel, Nevada: This sign designates the road that leads to the infamous Area 51.

Tjurkö Ship Cemetery

Discover Tjurkö Ship Cemetery in Tjurkö, Sweden: For decades, these ships have been lying in rust awaiting a final decision on their fate.

Stagbury Hills

Discover Stagbury Hills in Lyndhurst, England: One of the largest hills in New Forest.

Skyscraper Museum

Discover Skyscraper Museum in New York, New York: An institution dedicated to the towering buildings that make up skylines in New York City and around the world.

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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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