Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Ritual of Periarosis Column

Discover Ritual of Periarosis Column in Athens, Greece: According to legend, this ancient column contains healing properties.

Dedham Powder House

Discover Dedham Powder House in Dedham, Massachusetts: This building is more than 250 years old and was built in one of the first towns settled in Massachusetts.

‘Toilet in Nature’

Discover 'Toilet in Nature' in Ichihara, Japan: The "largest bathroom stall in the world" offers a unique pit-stop experience.

Great Bridge Lock

Discover Great Bridge Lock in Chesapeake, Virginia: This environmental engineering marvel keeps salt water from the Elizabeth River.

Treasury Building Column Section

Discover Treasury Building Column Section in Fort Belvoir, Virginia: One of the Treasury Building's original columns now sits as a garden monument in the middle of a busy military base.

Grandad’s Magical Wonderland

Discover Grandad's Magical Wonderland in Broadmeadow, Australia: This whimsical garden filled with fairies and incredible creatures has been enchanting children—and adults—since the 1970s.

Milan War Cemetery

Discover Cimitero di Guerra di Milano (Milan War Cemetery) in Milan, Italy: An American-English cemetery in the heart of Milan, with 421 allied soldiers died during World War II.

‘Big Fella’

Discover 'Big Fella' in Silloth, England: One man and his dog, immortalized in a giant statue.

Tangier American Legation Museum

Discover Tangier American Legation Museum in Tangier, Morocco: This stucco building in North Africa was the first American-owned property on foreign soil.

Warren Historic Site

Discover Warren Historic Site in Dickerson, Maryland: Once the center of a thriving early Black community called Martinsburg.

Dotonbori Hotel Front Pillars

Discover Dotonbori Hotel Front Pillars in Osaka, Japan: Surreal giant face-pillars welcome visitors from across the globe to this hotel.

Matsuchiyama Shoden

Discover Matsuchiyama Shoden in Tokyo, Japan: Daikon radishes are offered to the Japanese Buddhist counterpart of the Hindu god Ganesha at this historic hilltop temple.

Midland Railroad Hotel

Discover Midland Railroad Hotel in Wilson, Kansas: This hotel was a famous stop along the Union Pacific Railroad.

Panská Skála

Discover Panská Skála in Kamenický Šenov, Czechia: Tall columns of volcanic basalt make up this improbable-seeming rock formation.

Robert Johnson House

Discover Robert Johnson House in Hazlehurst, Mississippi: A blues musician so talented that people said he must have traded his soul to the devil was born in this house.

Muzeum Treblinka

Discover Muzeum Treblinka in Treblinka, Poland: A somber memorial honors the hundreds of thousands of lives lost at this labor and extermination camp.

Whalley Viaduct

Discover Whalley Viaduct in Whalley, England: A fantastic example of Victorian railway engineering with two unusual decorative features.

Pačir Geothermal Spa

Discover Pačir Geothermal Spa in Pačir, Serbia: This natural spa is known for its healing properties and vibrant hue.

Montgomery Scott Plaque

Discover Montgomery Scott Plaque in Linlithgow, Scotland: The fictional birthplace of the Chief Engineer aboard the Starship Enterprise.

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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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