Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Liberty Rock

Discover Liberty Rock in Milford, Connecticut: This large boulder was used as a lookout point by Revolutionary War militiamen.

St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church

Discover St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hunter, New York: This stave church nestled in the Catskills was built in the 1960s by a community of Ukrainian immigrants and refugees.

‘Newspaper Reader’

Discover 'Newspaper Reader' in Lancaster, Pennsylvania: This iconic Lancaster everyman has been reading the same story since 1980.

Jimbōchō Book Town

Discover Jimbōchō Book Town in Tokyo, Japan: A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.

‘The Public Purse’

Discover 'The Public Purse' in Melbourne, Australia: This giant, granite purse is one of Melbourne's most unique and distinctive pieces of public art.

The King’s Arms Tavern

Discover The King’s Arms Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia: Dine like an American revolutionary at Colonial Williamsburg.

Partnach Memorial

Discover Partnach Memorial in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany: A memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives working in what is now a massive tourist attraction.

Vollpension

Discover Vollpension in Vienna, Austria: Visiting this café is like visiting the Austrian grandma you wish you had.

Kostis Palamas House

Discover Kostis Palamas House in Athens, Greece: The home of Greece’s national poet sits crumbling in the middle of a popular tourist district.

Oyster Sidewalk

Discover Oyster Sidewalk in New Orleans, Louisiana: After the oysters have been shucked, and the restaurant's been shuttered, the terrazzo sidewalk from the 1940s is all that remains.

Amsterdam’s Resistance Museum

Hidden weapons, secret radios, and anti-Nazi literature were just a few of the tools used by the Dutch resistance during World War II.

Australia’s Creationist Dinosaur Museum

Discover Jurassic Ark in Bells Bridge, Australia: A museum in rural Queensland wrongly claims that dinosaur fossils possess evidence that the earth is only 10,000 years old.

Sunkenkirk

Discover Sunkenkirk in Cumbria, England: One of the best-preserved, yet least visited stone circle sites in Cumbria.

Kankan Jizō

Discover Kankan Jizō in Tokyo, Japan: Although damaged beyond recognition, this stone god is still said to bring good luck to those who tap on him with a pebble.

The Bremer Car

Discover The Bremer Car in London, England: Likely the first car with an internal combustion engine constructed in the United Kingdom.

Legato School Museum

Discover Legato School Museum in Fairfax, Virginia: The last of Fairfax County's one-room schoolhouses.

Hermit’s Castle

Discover Hermit's Castle in Achmelvich, Scotland: Believed to be the smallest castle in Europe.

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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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