Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Leuven Mini City

Discover Leuven Mini City in Leuven, Belgium: A tiny metropolis resides inside this student housing complex.

Desert Lakes of Ounianga

Discover Desert Lakes of Ounianga in Chad: These natural wonders have taken millennia to form into the stunning marvels they are today.

Millican Daltons Caves

Discover Millican Daltons Caves in Borrowdale, England: It's believed a local adventurer spent 50 years living inside this cave.

Käthe Paulus Memorial

Discover Käthe Paulus Memorial in Berlin, Germany: A plaque marks the former home of Käthe Paulus, an aerial acrobat who invented the modern folding parachute.

Raritan Water Power Canal

Discover Raritan Water Power Canal in Raritan, New Jersey: In the 19th century, this canal provided power to mills, machine shops, and other businesses in the area.

Gros Piton

Discover Gros Piton in Soufriere, Saint Lucia: The larger of two volcanic peaks rising out of the crystalline waters of the Caribbean.

Karonga Museum

Discover Karonga Museum in Karonga, Malawi: A cultural center on the shores of Lake Malawi dedicated to preserving Karonga’s past and present, including the fossilized remains of the Malawisaurus.

Bellesguard

Discover Bellesguard in Barcelona, Spain: One of Antoni Gaudí's least-visited works, an homage to Catalan patrimony that mixes neo-Gothic with Modernista forms.

‘Crowning Woman’

Discover 'Crowning Woman' in Madison, Wisconsin: Prolific outsider artist Sid Boyum's concrete sculptures add whimsy to Madison's Schenk-Atwood neighborhood.

Catholic Church of Agios Georgios

Discover Catholic Church of Agios Georgios in Ano Syros, Greece: On top of a hill, this Catholic church overlooks the most Catholic island in Greece.

Varyag Memorial

Discover Varyag Memorial in Lendalfoot, Scotland: A monument to a Russian cruiser near its final resting place off the Ayrshire Coast.

Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge

Discover Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, Massachusetts: In the middle of a New England forest sit the crumbling ruins of World War II-era ammunition storage bunkers.

Bratislava Old Town Hall’s Cannonball

Discover Bratislava Old Town Hall's Cannonball in Bratislava, Slovakia: Launched by Napoleon's soldiers more than 200 years ago, a cannonball remains embedded in the tower wall.

Snib’s Cave

Discover Snib's Cave in Lendalfoot, Scotland: Near this coastal cave stands a small memorial to the hermit who made it his home for three decades.

Hospicio Cabañas

Discover Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara, Mexico: One of the oldest hospitals in the Americas is now decorated in hallucinatory murals.

Barsalloch Fort

Discover Barsalloch Fort in Monreith, Scotland: A 2,000-year-old Iron Age fort offers stunning ocean views.

Thirparappu Waterfalls

Discover Thirparappu Waterfalls in Tiruparapu, India: A handmade waterfall in Kanyakumari.

Viceroy’s Arch

Discover Viceroy's Arch in Velha Goa, India: When new viceroys were elected, they passed through this arch to cement the title.

Vanadislunden Water Reservoir

Discover Vanadislunden Water Reservoir in Stockholm, Sweden: A water reservoir disguised as a castle stands atop a hill in a park in Stockholm city.

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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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