Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Nashville’s 8th Avenue Reservoir

Discover 8th Avenue Reservoir in Nashville, Tennessee: In 1912, a broken section of the reservoir wall released millions of gallons of water and destroyed many homes downhill.

Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren

Discover Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren in Amersfoort, Netherlands: At the base of this tower, a plaque marks the zero point of the Netherlands.

The Blue Polykatoikia

Discover The Blue Polykatoikia in Athens, Greece: An important example of architectural history slowly decays in the city center.

Ardnacrusha Power Station

Discover Ardnacrusha Power Station in Ballykeelaun, Ireland: At the time of its construction, this hydroelectric power plant was the largest in the world.

Western Pacific Railroad Museum

Discover Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California: A unique museum where guests can rent and operate a locomotive.

Taste the Tropics USA

Discover Taste the Tropics USA in Brooklyn, New York: In Little Caribbean, an ice-cream shop serves up regional flavors, including soursop, Irish moss, and "greatnut.".

Fort Bayard Historical Site

Discover Fort Bayard Historical Site in Santa Clara, New Mexico: This abandoned military fort is filled with a rich history.

Brauerei Hofstetten

Discover Brauerei Hofstetten in Adsdorf, Austria: Austria’s oldest brewery makes beer with flaming-hot granite.

Wood Hat Spirits

Discover Wood Hat Spirits in New Florence, Missouri: Come for the heirloom-corn whiskey, stay for the wood hats.

Southmere Lake

Discover Southmere Lake in London, England: This artificial lake surrounded by Brutalist architecture served as a stand-in for futuristic Britain in Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange.'.

Parque Rivadavia Book Market

Discover Parque Rivadavia Book Market in Buenos Aires, Argentina: With its vast selection of books, comics, and records, this nearly 70-year-old open-air market always rewards the patient browser.

Borgo Amerigo Fazio

Discover Borgo Amerigo Fazio in Trapani, Italy: A never-inhabited village that was built as part of Mussolini's agricultural reforms.

Waters Mill Ruins

Discover Waters Mill Ruins in Germantown, Maryland: The ruins of an old mill lie in a small ravine along a hiking trail near Little Seneca Creek.

Henrietta Lacks Statue

Discover Henrietta Lacks Statue in Bristol, England: A monument dedicated to the unrecognized Black "mother" of modern medicine.

Slayers Slab

Discover Slayers Slab in England: This carved stone slab marked the grave of a local dragon slayer, who makes a killer pie.

Sinhagad Fortress

Discover Sinhagad Fortress in Thoptewadi, India: This ancient fortress was once the setting for a strange battle won with the help of a lizard.

Fortaleza del Real Felipe

Discover Fortaleza del Real Felipe in Lima, Peru: Haunted by its violent past, this colonial bastion was the largest Spanish military installation in the Americas.

Stephen Hillenburg Memorial

Discover Stephen Hillenburg Memorial in Anaheim, California: A monument to the legacy of the man who created Spongebob Squarepants at the school where his passion for art and marine biology began.

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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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