Archives: Atlas Obscuras

James Ensor House

Discover James Ensor House in Ostend, Belgium: The former home of a trailblazing surrealist is still filled with haunting dolls and grim paintings.

Menin Gate Memorial

Discover Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium: A moving memorial to the fallen and missing from WWI trenches.

C-Mine

Discover C-Mine in Genk, Belgium: What was once a bustling mining installation is now a bustling hub of contemporary art.

‘Totem’

Discover 'Totem' in Leuven, Belgium: A giant bug impaled on a 75-foot-tall needle.

Carnival of Binche

Discover Carnival of Binche in Binche, Belgium: The tiny Belgian town's ancient version of Mardi Gras involves eerie wax masks, sticks for warding off evil, and ostrich plume hats.

Museum of Carrots

Discover Museum of Carrots in Raeren, Belgium: This small window display is dedicated to the noble carrot.

Grave of Antoine Michel Wemaer

Discover Grave of Antoine Michel Wemaer in Bruges, Belgium: The spectacular and eerie moss-covered grave site of 19th-century Belgian merchant.

Genk Sundial Park

Discover Genk Sundial Park in Genk, Belgium: This collection of solar timekeepers includes the world's first digital sundial.

Mundaneum

Discover Mundaneum in Mons, Belgium: A visionary precursor to the Internet made of index cards.

Mercator Museum

Discover Mercator Museum in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium: Housing the groundbreaking maps and globes of Gerard Mercator.

Museum of Radiology

Discover Museum of Radiology in Brussels, Belgium: Dummies recreate radiological discoveries from history.

Bueren Mountain

Discover Bueren Mountain in Liège, Belgium: This giant urban staircase was built to keep the city's brave fighting men from getting waylaid in the red light district.

Antwerp Ruien

Discover Antwerp Ruien in Antwerp, Belgium: An open-air sewer system that was covered piece-by-piece over 300 years.

Fort Eben-Emael

Discover Fort Eben-Emael in Bassenge, Belgium: This sprawling Belgian fort was once thought of as impenetrable but now it is simply an abandoned relic.

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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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