Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Pine Forest Cemetery

Discover Pine Forest Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina: For more than 150 years, this cemetery has served as the final resting place for many members of Wilmington's Black community.

Theatricum Botanicum

Discover Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, California: Will Geer's outdoor theater started as a mountain retreat for actors, musicians, and other artists who were blacklisted during the Red Scare.

Tygart Lake

Discover Tygart Lake in Grafton, West Virginia: A beautiful hidden gem in central West Virginia.

Chimney Rock

Discover Chimney Rock in Chimney Rock, Colorado: Two tall rocks sit at the center of this site, once the home of a large Ancestral Puebloan community.

Dirty Dick’s

Discover Dirty Dick's in London, England: This pub boasts a curious history and may have inspired a Dickens character.

West 230th Step Street

Discover West 230th Step Street in Bronx, New York: The longest step street in the city.

Las Vegas Strip Benchmarks

Discover Las Vegas Strip Benchmarks in Las Vegas, Nevada: These markers are used to determine the ground stability of the Strip.

Wirth’s Circus Mosaic

Discover Wirth's Circus Mosaic in Southbank, Australia: Designed to celebrate more than a century of circus performances in Australia.

Bølgen (The Wave)

Discover Bølgen (The Wave) in Vejle, Denmark: This unique architectural wonder is home to luxury apartments.

Raša Popov Monument

Discover Raša Popov Monument in Belgrade, Serbia: This statue of the famed author, actor, and journalist is made entirely of screw-nuts.

Nevada Quicksilver Mine

Discover Nevada Quicksilver Mine in Lovelock, Nevada: An abandoned mine serves as a stark memorial of when mercury was a valued strategic metal.

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.

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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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