Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The “Real” Cardiff Giant

Discover The "Real" Cardiff Giant in Fort Dodge, Iowa: Hidden in the grounds of the Fort Dodge Museum is a "real" and terrifying petrified giant.

The R.N.L.I Fish

Discover The R.N.L.I Fish in Robin Hood's Bay, England: This coin collecting cod is over 130 years old, and the United Kingdom's smallest listed structure.

Qanat di Palermo

Discover Qanat di Palermo in Palermo, Italy: A network of underground water channels that dates back to the Middle Ages.

Van Nelle Factory

Discover Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam, Netherlands: An icon of International Style architecture on the outskirts of Rotterdam.

Dragos Gemelos

Discover Dragos Gemelos in La Palma, Spain: Behind this pair of dragon trees, there is a tragic story of lost love.

Maritime Museum Peenemünde U-461

Discover Maritime Museum Peenemünde U-461 in Peenemünde, Germay: This 1960's Soviet submarine in Peenemünde Harbor claims to be the largest submarine museum in the world.

Attila’s Throne

Discover Attila's Throne in Venice, Italy: An island on the Venetian Lagoon hosts this stone chair that has nothing to do with the King of the Huns.

Falls Of Dochart

Discover Falls Of Dochart in Killin, Scotland: Cascading waterfalls mark the gateway to the ancient burial place of Clan Macnab.

Polé (Xcaret Archaeological Site)

Discover Polé (Xcaret Archaeological Site) in Playa del Carmen, Mexico: One of Mexico's least-visited archaeological sites is tucked away inside a theme park.

Berikaoba Sculpture Group

Discover Berikaoba Sculpture Group in Tbilisi, Georgia: A lively circle of dancers in the Georgian capital commemorates an ancient rite of spring.

Saba Milkfish Museum

Discover Saba Milkfish Museum in Tainan City, Taiwan: A small museum dedicated to one of the most popular fish in Taiwanese cuisine.

Sipiso-piso Waterfall

Discover Sipiso-piso Waterfall in Merek, Indonesia: One of Indonesia's tallest, this waterfall takes a 390-foot plunge into the Lake Toba caldera.

The Baker House

Discover The Baker House in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: This lakefront cottage was crafted in the 1800s and was once a sanitorium.

Einstein’s Summer House

Discover Einstein's Summer House in Schwielowsee, Germany: Before he was forced to flee the country under Nazi rule, Albert Einstein spent his summers in this custom-built lakeside house near Berlin.

Loktak Lake

Discover Loktak Lake in Manipur, India: The largest freshwater lake in northeast India is also the only floating national park in the world.

Holmenkollen Ski Jump

Discover Holmenkollen Ski Jump in Holmenkollen, Norway: A stunning architectural yet functional feat, towering over Oslo.

Farrandsville Iron Furnace

Discover Farrandsville Iron Furnace in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania: This abandoned iron furnace was one of the first to use coke—a type of high-carbon fuel—to make iron.

Menu

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