Archives: Atlas Obscuras

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.

Tusayan Ruin

Discover Tusayan Ruin in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona: This Native American settlement dates back to the Pueblo II period.

The Hidden Village of Galboly

Discover The Hidden Village of Galboly in Carnlough, Northern Ireland: This village provides a glimpse at rural life in Northern Ireland during the mid-20th-century.

Loch Long Torpedo Range

Discover Loch Long Torpedo Range in Argyll and Bute, Scotland: A long-abandoned relic of World War II.

Zalaszántó Stupa

Discover Zalaszántó Stupa in Zalaszántó, Hungary: One of the biggest Buddhist stupas in Europe, hidden from most locals.

The Seward Highway

Discover The Seward Highway in Anchorage, Alaska: Considered by many to be one of the most dangerous highways in Alaska.

Devil’s Arrows

Discover Devil's Arrows in Boroughbridge, England: At 22 feet tall, these Bronze Age monoliths are some of the tallest standing stones in the United Kingdom.

Goddard Mansion

Discover Goddard Mansion in Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Abandoned Italianate architecture on the coast of Maine.

Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace

Discover Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace in Saint Paul, Minnesota: This 85-year-old fireplace in an urban woodland is dedicated to a poet who recognized the beauty of a tree.

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