Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Airplane Filling Station

Discover Airplane Filling Station in Knoxville, Tennessee: Once a gas station, this flightless airplane beside the Old Dixie Highway now houses a barbershop.

Chapel of Santa Marta, Vernazza

Discover Chapel of Santa Marta, Vernazza in Vernazza, Italy: This tiny chapel withstood a massive mudslide and flash flood.

Hero Dog Monument

Discover Hero Dog Monument in Belgrade, Serbia: Dedicated to a brave pooch who fought a tiger to save a young child.

Atlantis House

Discover Atlantis House in Bremen, Germany: One room inside this building mesmerizes all with its parabolic dome.

SS Crete Boom

Discover SS Crete Boom in Ballina, Ireland: The remains of a concrete ship sit on a sandbank between Ballina Quay and Belleek Woods.

Slot Car City

Discover Slot Car City in Las Vegas, Nevada: A blast of nostalgia awaits visitors to this miniature indoor raceway.

Hoover Dam Geodetic Survey Markers

Discover Hoover Dam Geodetic Survey Markers in Boulder City, Nevada: These markers are used to document elevation changes around the famed dam.

Torhouse Stone Circle

Discover Torhouse Stone Circle in Wigtown, Scotland: A circle made up of 19 boulders has stood in Scotland's Bladnoch Valley for some 4,000 years.

Capela de Nossa Senhora de Aracelis

Discover Capela de Nossa Senhora de Aracelis in Corte Pequena, Portugal: Before this rocky hill was home to a chapel, it was used as a lookout by Romans and Moors.

House-Museum of Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves

Discover House-Museum of Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves in Lisbon, Portugal: After the owner of this Art Nouveau home died, it was turned into a museum displaying a lifetime dedicated to art.

Zdravnevo

Discover Zdravnevo in Viciebsk, Belarus: The country estate of renowned Ukrainian-born artist Ilya Repin.

Elfland

Discover Elfland in Somerville, Massachusetts: A tiny town in an empty lot was the work of a local eight-year-old.

Kirkmadrine Stones

Discover Kirkmadrine Stones in Sandhead, Scotland: Dating back to the 500s, these stones include some of the oldest Christian memorials in Scotland.

Abandoned Hotel at Cala d’en Serra

Discover Abandoned Hotel at Cala d’en Serra in Sant Joan de Labritja, Spain: Originally slated to become a luxurious resort, this structure is now a graffiti haunt reclaimed by nature.

Emblems of the Erstwhile Governors

Discover Emblems of the Erstwhile Governors in Pune, India: These stone carvings represent the various governors that once ruled Bombay.

Catherine Sinclair Monument

Discover Catherine Sinclair Monument in Edinburgh, Scotland: A rare memorial paying homage to an altruistic woman from the 19th-century.

Chowning’s Tavern

Discover Chowning’s Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia: Enjoy dishes that founding fathers once ate at this Colonial Williamsburg pub.

Bonniebrook Home & Museum

Discover Bonniebrook Home & Museum in Walnut Shade, Missouri: The creator of the Kewpie doll's former home has been turned into a museum celebrating her life and work.

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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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