Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Gotland

Discover Gotland in Sweden: Largest island in the Baltic Sea experiences such idyllic weather that roses bloom in the middle of December.

Jumbo Stay

Discover Jumbo Stay in Stockholm, Sweden: Frequent fliers welcome in this airplane hotel.

Ytterby Mine

Discover Ytterby Mine in Stockholm, Sweden: The single richest source of elemental discoveries in the world.

Rök Rune Stone

Discover Rök Rune Stone in Ödeshög, Sweden: This encrypted monolith protected a secret of Norse mythology by hiding in a church wall for over a millennium.

World’s Only Mounted Blue Whale

Discover Malm Whale in Gothenburg, Sweden: One of the world's few mounted blue whales, its jaws are hinged open allowing visitors to descend into a lounge.

Old Tjikko in Sweden

Discover Old Tjikko in Älvdalen S, Sweden: The world's oldest individual clonal tree looks like a wimp despite standing tall for 9,550 years.

Utter Inn

Discover Utter Inn in Västerås, Sweden: A floating underwater hotel, created by a Swedish artist.

Øresund Bridge

Discover Øresund Bridge in Malmö, Sweden: This chimerical bridge/tunnel appears to dead end right into the sea.

Ales Stenar

Discover Ales Stenar in Ystad, Sweden: According to legend, this boat-shaped henge is built over the grave of a mythic king.

Nimis in Ladonia

Discover Nimis in Ladonia in Höganäs, Sweden: Micro-nation based around a nine-story high illegally built tower.

The Cuckold of Skeppsbron

Discover The Cuckold of Skeppsbron in Stockholm, Sweden: A man has revenged his true love's betrayal through tears and stone genitalia.

Stockholm’s ‘Rag and Bone’

Discover Rag and Bone in Norrmalm, Sweden: This homeless brass fox tugs at your heartstrings from the foot of a Stockholm bridge.

STF Kolarbyn Eco Lodges

Discover STF Kolarbyn Eco Lodges in Skinnskatteberg, Sweden: Bring your hiking shoes, wool socks, and thermal underwear for a stay in these cozy forest huts.

Pionen Data Center

Discover Pionen Data Center in Stockholm, Sweden: The internet as provided by a James Bond villain.

Skansen Open Air Museum

Discover Skansen Open Air Museum in Stockholm, Sweden: Sweden's "good old days" painstakingly re-created in a model village.

Birthplace of the Stockholm Syndrome

Discover Birthplace of the Stockholm Syndrome in Stockholm, Sweden: Now a hotel, this former bank was the site of a robbery that spawned a psychological phenomenon.

Sweden Solar System

Discover Sweden Solar System in Stockholm, Sweden: The world's largest model of our planetary system.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 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. 474 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. 499 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. 633 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. 135 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. 167 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). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 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. 96 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. 166

PP ToS