Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Bardia National Park

Discover Bardia National Park in Nepal: This park is the prime habitat for Nepal’s Bengal tigers.

Wind Phone

Discover Wind Phone in Marshall, North Carolina: This disconnected phone allows words to travel in the wind to deceased loved ones.

Uravan

Discover Uravan in Uravan, Colorado: Only a few signs remain of the buried Colorado mining town that supplied the uranium for the first atomic bomb.

John Eliot Memorial

Discover John Eliot Memorial in Newton, Massachusetts: Eliot was the first missionary to produce religious text for Algonquians in their own language.

The Appalachian Trail Shoe Tree

Discover The Appalachian Trail Shoe Tree in Blairsville, Georgia: An eerie site of reverence for those who have completed an epic journey.

Monument to Orange

Discover Monument to Orange in Odesa, Ukraine: An artful memorial to 4,000 fateful oranges.

Basilica of San Giorgio in Velabro

Discover Basilica of San Giorgio in Velabro in Rome, Italy: This medieval church in Rome was almost destroyed following a terrorist attack in 1993.

Andersonville National Historic Site

Discover Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville, Georgia: The site of the notorious Camp Sumter Prison is now a peaceful memorial.

Smoky Mountain Knife Works

Discover Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee: While knives are the main feature in this store, visitors will also find dinosaur bones and meteorites.

‘Hvězdicová Kotelna’

Discover 'Hvězdicová Kotelna' in Slaný, Czechia: An unusual heating plant that has garnered notoriety for its distinct shape.

Kamakura’s Seven Entrances

Discover Kamakura's Seven Entrances in Kamakura, Japan: Narrow passes cut out of mountains surround the medieval capital of Japan.

Walraversijde

Discover Walraversijde in Ostend, Belgium: Rediscovered in 1992, this abandoned medieval village once flourished by fishing and piracy.

The Water Clock

Discover The Water Clock in Rome, Italy: This hydrochronometer was invented by a Dominican monk and is a prime feature in this garden.

Shiva Statue

Discover Shiva Statue in Shankharapur, Nepal: The spot where Parvati convinced Shiva to marry her, has become a pilgrimage site for married and unmarried women.

Monkey Beach

Discover Monkey Beach in West Mersea, England: This stretch of beach is the site of a prime watering hole and a primate watchtower.

Twilight Sculpture Garden

Discover Twilight Sculpture Garden in Montreal, Québec: A patch of contaminated land reclaimed as a scrappy sculptural oasis.

War Hostel Sarajevo

Discover War Hostel Sarajevo in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: This unusual hostel provides a glimpse of life in a city under siege.

Krutbanan (Gunpowder Track)

Discover Krutbanan (Gunpowder Track) in Stockholm, Sweden: This railroad track was so secretive that it was omitted from all maps.

Aikawa Prison

Discover Aikawa Prison in Sado, Japan: A wooden prison doesn't sound like a good idea, yet this abandoned 1950s detention center still stands today.

The Zenith

Discover The Zenith in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: This restaurant offers a side of antiques, curios, and a bathroom chock full of owls.

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

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