Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Project Shoal Site

Discover Project Shoal Site in Fallon, Nevada: On October 26, 1963, a 12-kiloton nuclear device was detonated here in granite some 1,211 feet below the ground surface.

Hidden Wonders of York Minster

Discover Hidden Wonders of York Minster in York, England: Semaphore saints, a golden dragon's head, and a stone carved with religious warnings all call this cathedral home.

Braña la Pornacal

Discover Braña la Pornacal in Asturias, Spain: An uninhabited village that preserves and documents rural architecture and an endangered way of life.

Windy Hill

Discover Windy Hill in Ripponden, England: The longest cutting on the M62 contains some surprises—though it's best to leave the motorway to appreciate them.

Wells Fargo Express Office

Discover Wells Fargo Express Office in French Corral, California: Built to hold Gold Rush wealth, this building has withstood the test of time.

Troyan Monastery

Discover Troyan Monastery in Troyanski manastir, Bulgaria: At this 16th-century monastery in rural Bulgaria, visitors can also spend the night.

Dzintaru Forest Park Watchtower

Discover Dzintaru Forest Park Watchtower in Jūrmala, Latvia: This seaside pine grove features an exclusive watchtower that presents amazing views.

Calli Nature Preserve-Rock Rest Falls

Discover Calli Nature Preserve-Rock Rest Falls in North Vernon, Indiana: At the turn of the century, a chair like rock sat at the top of the falls and hosted the winner of a local beauty contest.

Hardtkapelle Wielenbach

Discover Hardtkapelle Wielenbach in Wielenbach, Germany: A hole in the floor of this chapel is said to have been created by a footprint of the devil.

Jimmy Possum Chair

Discover Jimmy Possum Chair in Deloraine, Australia: A faceless folk hero and his legacy of comfortable, expertly-crafted chairs lives on in a small Tasmanian town.

First Lot Sold At Auction Marker

Discover First Lot Sold At Auction Marker in Alexandria, Virginia: This small pedestal marks the spot of the first lot of land sold in Alexandria, Virginia in 1749.

Herľany Geyser

Discover Herľany Geyser in Herľany, Slovakia: One of the few cold geysers in Europe, its eruptions are powered by carbon dioxide.

Presa El Gasco

Discover Presa El Gasco in Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain: This 18th-century project to build the world's tallest gravity dam was never completed.

Goldbug Hot Springs

Discover Goldbug Hot Springs in Salmon, Idaho: This set of hot springs also comes with fantastic views.

Freedom House Museum

Discover Freedom House Museum in Alexandria, Virginia: Once the largest trading firm of enslaved people in the U.S., this building is now a museum that preserves Alexandria's dark past.

Seahorse World

Discover Seahorse World in Beauty Point, Australia: An active seahorse farm is currently saving Tasmania's handfish from extinction.

Petroglyph National Monument

Discover Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Thousands of pieces of art have been carved into the rock at the site of an ancient volcanic eruption.

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