Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Tabor Opera House

Discover Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado: In the 1950s, two women saved this grand theater in the Colorado mountains from demolition.

Kalamaja Cemetery Park

Discover Kalamaja Cemetery Park in Tallinn, Estonia: This 16th-century cemetery became a recreational park during the Soviet occupation—today it's a little bit of both.

Il Giardino di Babuk

Discover Il Giardino di Babuk in Naples, Italy: A surreal botanical garden with an even more surreal tour guide.

Torre Insignia Carillon

Discover Torre Insignia Carillon in Mexico City, Mexico: The world's tallest carillon is located at the top of this skyscraper in Mexico City.

Grote Kerk Cannonballs

Discover Grote Kerk Cannonballs in Naarden, Netherlands: The Siege of Naarden ended in 1814, but the cannonballs embedded in the town church remain.

B.B. King’s Tour Bus

Discover B.B. King’s Tour Bus in Indianola, Mississippi: A 1980s tour bus that traveled millions of miles to facilitate a superlatively rigorous performing career.

Teddy’s Juke Joint

Discover Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, Louisiana: One of the last remaining venues on the Old Chitlin’ Circuit is a kaleidoscopic music hall at the end of a dirt road.

Muddy Waters’ Cabin

Discover Muddy Waters’ Cabin in Clarksdale, Mississippi: The centerpiece of the Delta Blues Museum is a wooden sharecropper’s cabin that once housed a titan of blues music.

Hattiesburg Pocket Museum

Discover Hattiesburg Pocket Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi: A cheeky alleyway window hosts tiny rotating exhibits with outsized charm.

Swamp Pop Museum

Discover Swamp Pop Museum in Ville Platte, Louisiana: A museum within a former train depot tells the true story of a distinctly French-Louisiana musical genre.

Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall

Discover Dew Drop Jazz and Social Hall in Mandeville, Louisiana: This 19th-century benevolent society and jazz hall was rescued from abandonment to again host live music.

Levitt Shell

Discover Levitt Shell in Memphis, Tennessee: One of the last Depression-era bandshells still standing was the site of Elvis Presley’s first live concert.

Ciderville Music Store

Discover Ciderville Music Store in Powell, Tennessee: A roadside music shop featuring a confounding series of folk art installations.

The Caverns

Discover The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee: An ancient cave system in Tennessee’s Appalachian foothills converted to a 1,200-person music venue.

Fred’s Lounge

Discover Fred’s Lounge in Mamou, Louisiana: “The Cajun Music Capital of the World” has kept things French in a Louisiana prairie town for over 75 years.

Blue Front Cafe

Discover Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi: The oldest active juke joint in the state sustains a niche school of blues guitar.

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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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