Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Old Fort Park

Discover Old Fort Park in New Smyrna Beach, Florida: These mysterious ruins are hidden amid this sleepy coastal city.

Casa del Venado Azul

Discover Casa del Venado Azul in Mineral de Pozos, Mexico: A bed and breakfast, botanical garden, art gallery, academy, and workshop all in one.

Fountain of Three Storks

Discover Fountain of Three Storks in Minsk, Belarus: A sculpture of graceful storks sits atop this fountain in Independence Square.

Feria del Campo (Campo Fair)

Discover Feria del Campo (Campo Fair) in Madrid, Spain: These abandoned country fairgrounds are filled with replicas of Spanish monuments.

Corrales Marinos de Monkey Beach

Discover Corrales Marinos de Monkey Beach in Canoa, Ecuador: These unusual stone structures are actually fish traps crafted by an ancient civilization.

Sope Creek Paper Mill Ruins

Discover Sope Creek Paper Mill Ruins in Marietta, Georgia: The ruins of a paper mill destroyed during the Civil War still tower over a tributary of the Chattahoochee River.

The Gobbins

Discover The Gobbins in Larne, Northern Ireland: A Victorian marvel of engineering is now a 21st-century tourist attraction.

Isola del Garda

Discover Isola del Garda in San felice del Benaco, Italy: A small island in Lake Garda that was used as a burial site, pirate hideout, and a monastery.

Tourist Office of Mali-ville

Discover Tourist Office of Mali-ville in Mali, Guinea: This small building is a living testament to the remoteness and warmth of the town that it represents.

Chiaia di Luna

Discover Chiaia di Luna in Ponza, Italy: This crescent-shaped beach is said to glow under the light of a full moon.

Gordo the Barosaurus

Discover Gordo the Barosaurus in Toronto, Ontario: Canada's largest dinosaur skeleton was hidden away in storage for more than 40 years.

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Discover Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sappington, Missouri: Giant works of art interspersed throughout meadows and woodlands offer a new discovery at every turn.

The Zoo, Groovy Yard Art

Discover The Zoo, Groovy Yard Art in Mineral Bluff, Georgia: The only zoo where you can buy animals that won't need feeding.

Longhua Martyrs Cemetery

Discover Longhua Martyrs Cemetery in Shanghai, China: A memorial to those who died at the hands of the Kuomintang while fighting for communism in China.

Pul Kanjri

Discover Pul Kanjri in Attari, India: Built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, this location was used as a resting place for his troops.

House of the Blackheads

Discover House of the Blackheads in Riga, Latvia: The reconstruction of this prominent building fulfilled a long-written command.

Captain George Pollard House

Discover Captain George Pollard House in Nantucket, Massachusetts: The island home of an unlucky whaling captain whose story inspired a great American novel.

Iberian Citadel of Calafell

Discover Iberian Citadel of Calafell in Calafell, Spain: Experience this Iron Age village the way that its original residents would have.

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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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