Archives: Atlas Obscuras

North Toronto Station

Discover North Toronto Station in Toronto, Ontario: A former Canadian Pacific Railway station turned liquor store, the first and only station in Canada visited by British royalty.

De Salis Cemetery

Discover De Salis Cemetery in Tharwa, Australia: A rare and unique 19th-century pastoral burial site elevated off the ground.

Tunnels of Claudius

Discover Tunnels of Claudius in Avezzano, Italy: This Roman underground canal was the longest tunnel ever built until the late 19th-century.

West Highland Way Mural

Discover West Highland Way Mural in Glasgow, Scotland: This mural condenses 96 miles of one of Scotland's best-known trails into a unique art display.

Latimer’s Landing

Discover Latimer's Landing in East London, South Africa: The spot where the first living specimen of the coelacanth was discovered.

Story City Carousel

Discover Story City Carousel in Story City, Iowa: This hand-carved wooden carousel in the Story City North Park was built in 1913.

Tower of Silence

Discover Tower of Silence in Aden, Yemen: The remains of a Zoroastrian temple that bore witness to a time when Aden was a flourishing trading hub.

‘Dwellings’ at the Breuer Building

Discover 'Dwellings' at the Breuer Building in New York, New York: This miniature village stays behind in the Breuer Building, even as the museums around it come and go.

Susuz Caravanserai

Discover Susuz Caravanserai in Bucak, Turkey: A little-known caravanserai hidden among farmhouses in the Turkish countryside.

The Viking Unst Project and Skidbladner

Discover The Viking Unst Project and Skidbladner in Haroldswick, Scotland: Recreations of a Norse longhouse and boat on Shetland's northernmost inhabited island.

Przhevalskiy Museum

Discover Przhevalskiy Museum in Przhevalsk, Kyrgyzstan: This museum is dedicated to one of Russia's greatest explorers.

Mount Air Historic Site

Discover Mount Air Historic Site in Lorton, Virginia: This homestead was occupied by Union soldiers, who believed the owners were signaling Confederate forces.

Conowingo Dam

Discover Conowingo Dam in Darlington, Maryland: Although built to generate electricity for Marylanders, this dam has become an all-you-can-eat buffet for American bald eagles.

Stanley Institute

Discover Stanley Institute in Cambridge, Maryland: This one-room schoolhouse played a significant role in the education of Black children for almost 100 years.

Castles of Valderas

Discover Castles of Valderas in Alcorcón, Spain: A historic castle that served as a backdrop to part of an elaborate extraterrestrial hoax.

Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum

Discover Mawson's Huts Replica Museum in Hobart, Australia: The world's only full-size replica of the research hut used by Douglas Mawson for his 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition.

Wharram Percy

Discover Wharram Percy in Malton, England: A deserted medieval village where bodies were once mutilated to prevent them rising from the dead.

Villa La Favorita

Discover Villa La Favorita in Mantua, Italy: The remains of the last Gonzaga villa, a luxurious palace built in spite of an economic crisis.

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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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