Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Omirokusama Shrine

Discover Omirokusama Shrine in Tosa, Japan: Plagued with warts? Leave a frog at this small shrine in the city of Tosa, and you may be cured.

Comanche Lookout Park

Discover Comanche Lookout Park in San Antonio, Texas: One of the highest points in Bexar county offers birdseye views of San Antonio and a four-story stone tower.

Church of St. Nicholas

Discover Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey: This church houses the tomb—but not the remains—of St. Nicholas, the likely progenitor to Santa Claus.

Dunmore Park House

Discover Dunmore Park House in Dunmore, Scotland: A once extravagant mansion, now reduced to ruin.

Museum of the Slovak National Uprising

Discover Múzeum Slovenského Národného Povstania (Museum of the Slovak National Uprising) in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia: A monument to the bloody fight against fascism in Slovakia during World War II.

Pozzo della Cava

Discover Pozzo della Cava in Orvieto, Italy: Nine caves filled with recently-discovered archaeological finds under the houses and the streets of the most ancient district of an old town.

The Victorian Mansion

Discover The Victorian Mansion in Los Alamos, California: This unique bed and breakfast was first constructed during the 1800s by a Russian immigrant family.

Art Alley

Discover Art Alley in Mount Dora, Florida: A small strip of artistic displays is tucked away in a flea market.

Stone Edge Cupola

Discover Stone Edge Cupola in Chesterfield, England: This chimney is the oldest free standing industrial chimney in Britain.

Lapidarium

Discover Lapidarium in Guča, Serbia: An open-air museum dedicated to tombstones and roadside stone monuments.

Aldwych Tube Station

Discover Aldwych Tube Station in London, England: This Underground station has been a popular filming location for decades, even before it closed.

Ahuehuete de Chalma

Discover Ahuehuete de Chalma in Chalma, Mexico: This specimen of Mexico's national tree is now central to religious pilgrimage and rituals.

Alderley Edge Mines

Discover Alderley Edge Mines in Nether Alderley, England: The oldest known metal-mining site in England dates back to the Bronze Age.

Morritt Arms Hotel Dickens Mural

Discover Morritt Arms Hotel Dickens Mural in Greta Bridge, England: This impressive mural adorns the wall of this 17th-century hotel and honors the literary icon.

Carmelite Monastery

Discover Carmelite Monastery in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California: For almost 100 years, this site of peace and spirituality has existed on the California coast.

Cresta Valley Ski Resort

Discover Cresta Valley Ski Resort in Alpine Shire, Australia: This Australian ski resort was forced to close due to changing climate conditions.

Chatanika Gold Dredge #3

Discover Chatanika Gold Dredge #3 in Fairbanks, Alaska: A hulking remnant of Alaska's industrial gold mining boom in the 1920s.

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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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