Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Pyramide des Ha! Ha!

Discover Pyramide des Ha! Ha! in Saguenay, Québec: Despite its name this unique art piece was established to commemorate a tragic flood.

World’s Largest Fiddle

Discover World's Largest Fiddle in Sydney, Nova Scotia: On the waterfront of Sydney, Nova Scotia, a 60-ft. fiddle greets incoming ships.

Partridge Island Quarantine Site

Discover Partridge Island Quarantine Site in Saint John, New Brunswick: A complicated, forgotten beacon of hope for thousands of immigrants, "Canada's Emerald Isle" lies in ruin.

Tim Hortons No. 1

Discover Tim Hortons No. 1 in Hamilton, Ontario: The first outlet of Canada's biggest fast-food franchise has been slinging doughnuts since 1964.

Ragged Ass Road

Discover Ragged Ass Road in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories: This stretch of Canadian road was named after a nickname that stuck so hard the city had to keep it.

S.S. Peralta

Discover S.S. Peralta in Powell River, British Columbia: One of the final concrete ships built before World War II is now a crumbling breakwater.

Winnipeg the Bear Statue

Discover Winnipeg the Bear Statue in Winnipeg, Manitoba: A statue in a Canadian zoo remembers the WWI origins of the beloved character Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Incredible Shrinking Mill

Discover The Incredible Shrinking Mill in Port Colborne, Ontario: This mill on Lake Erie appears to shrink as a viewer approaches thanks to an optical illusion.

Morden Mine Tipple

Discover Morden Mine Tipple in Nanaimo, British Columbia: This hauntingly stark structure is a relic of an industrial past.

Manitou Lake

Discover Manitou Lake in Manitowaning, Ontario: Lake within a lake.

FDR’s Beloved Island in Maine

Discover Campobello Island in Welshpool, New Brunswick: A quarter mile off the coastal tip of Maine you'll find the "Beloved Island" of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Musee du Fort

Discover Musee du Fort in Québec City, Québec: A 400-square foot model of historic Quebec is the playing field for a state of the art light and sound show.

Laval Abandoned Drive-In

Discover Laval Abandoned Drive-In in Laval, Québec: This haunted corpse of a drive-in is now a graffiti-covered ruin.

Emily Carr House

Discover Emily Carr House in Victoria, British Columbia: This Italianate house was the childhood home of the prominent Canadian painter, Emily Carr.

The Vegreville Pysanka

Discover The Vegreville Pysanka in Vegreville, Alberta: Possibly the world’s easiest Easter-egg hunt.

Sucrerie de la Montagne

Discover Sucrerie de la Montagne in Rigaud, Québec: This shack nestled in a 120-acre forest of maple trees in Mont-Rigaud is a wonderland of sugary syrup.

Canada’s Mac the Moose

Discover Mac the Moose in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan: The world's largest moose statue is located (where else?) in Canada.

Diavik Diamond Mine

Discover Diavik Diamond Mine in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories: Ice roads, deep holes and 3,500 pounds of diamonds.

Museum of Whales and Things

Discover Museum of Whales and Things in Port au Choix, Newfoundland and Labrador: A chaotic collection of maritime artifacts, art, and really whatever else happens to be around.

Cement Cemetery

Discover Cement Cemetery in Rosser, Manitoba: Mysterious concrete spires left on a small Canadian hill.

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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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