Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Interhotel Veliko Tarnovo

Discover Interhotel Veliko Tarnovo in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria: A decaying, yet still functioning, work of communist architecture.

Kerosene Tin Hut

Discover Kerosene Tin Hut in Morven, Australia: These tin huts were commonplace in Australia during the Great Depression.

Teide Observatory

Discover Teide Observatory in Güímar, Spain: A large collection of solar and night-time telescopes dot a small area on the Teide mountain range.

Herman Melville’s Arrowhead

Discover Herman Melville's Arrowhead in Pittsfield, Massachusetts: Herman Melville wrote "Moby Dick" in this landmark 18th-century house surrounded by farmland.

Banknote Building

Discover Banknote Building in Kaunas, Lithuania: Described as one of the Baltic region’s most daring and original construction projects.

Indian Pueblo Kitchen

Discover Indian Pueblo Kitchen in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Eat like pre-Columbian Native Americans in this New Mexico restaurant within the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

Fairy Park

Discover Fairy Park in Anakie, Australia: This slightly spooky yet nostalgic theme park claims to be the first of its kind in Australia.

Pool #2 at Druid Hill Park

Discover Pool #2 at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland: The only public swimming pool in Baltimore open to Black Americans during segregation is now a permanent memorial art exhibit.

General Braddock’s Gravesite(s)

Discover General Braddock's Gravesite(s) in Farmington, Pennsylvania: The penultimate and final resting places of British General Edward Braddock—minus a few bits and pieces.

Phu Phra Bat Historical Park

Discover Phu Phra Bat Historical Park in Tambon Mueang Phan, Thailand: An amalgam of precariously balanced boulders, ancient petroglyphs, and Buddhist shrines.

Rheinsberg Nuclear Power Plant

Discover Rheinsberg Nuclear Power Plant in Rheinsberg, Germany: This decommissioned nuclear power plant offers tours of its Communist-era control room and reactor hall.

Porcupine Flat Gold Dredge and Dragline

Discover Porcupine Flat Gold Dredge and Dragline in Maldon, Australia: These two large, rusting pieces of machinery are relics of Australia’s gold mining past.

Monumento a el Enano

Discover Monumento a el Enano (Monument to the Dwarf) in Santa Cruz de la Palma, Spain: A statue commemorating the island's tradition of dancing dwarves in Napoleon hats.

Pinara

Discover Pinara in Turkey: At this ancient settlement at the foot of Mount Babadağ, honeycomb tombs are carved into a round cliff.

John W. Bowser’s Empire State Building Grave

Discover John W. Bowser's Empire State Building Grave in Aurora, Ontario: This uniquely shaped tombstone is dedicated to the project construction superintendent for the Empire State Building.

‘Molecule Men’

Discover 'Molecule Men' in Berlin, Germany: This monumental work of art symbolizes the coming together of a previously divided city.

Portuguese Fort Ruins

Discover Portuguese Fort Ruins in Cova-Lima, East Timor: The remains of a former colonial fort on a stretch of beach that is occasionally visited by crocodiles.

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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

PP ToS