Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Hucknall Miners Memorial

Discover Hucknall Miners Memorial in Hucknall, England: This imaginative sculpture is a memorial to this town's former mining industry.

Kings Square Gravestones

Discover Kings Square Gravestones in York, England: This popular square's history as the former site of a church is hidden in plain sight.

Grotte di Pilato

Discover Grotte di Pilato in Isola di Ponza, Italy: These artificial caves crafted by ancient Romans were elaborate fish farms for moray eels.

Sutri Amphitheatre

Discover Sutri Amphitheatre in Sutri, Italy: This Roman theater was crafted into the local tuff rock and was rediscovered during the 19th-century.

Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum

Discover Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum in Dublin, Ireland: This is the largest cemetery in Ireland and the first cemetery museum in the world.

Senju Shrine Bomb Shelter

Discover Senju Shrine Bomb Shelter in Tokyo, Japan: One of the few surviving World War II-era air-raid shelters in Tokyo.

George Washington’s Whiskey

Discover George Washington’s Whiskey in Alexandria, Virginia: Taste the white whiskey that the United States' first president once distilled and enjoyed.

Nana-chan Mannequin

Discover Nana-chan Mannequin in Nagoya, Japan: This giant fashion model is one of the most beloved symbols of Nagoya.

Semaforo di Monte Guardia

Discover Semaforo di Monte Guardia in Ponza, Italy: This abandoned semaphore station hearkens back to the days of the optical telegraph.

Paul Bunyan’s Gravesite

Discover Paul Bunyan's Gravesite in Kelliher, Minnesota: A memorial to a larger-than-life legend, inside a county that also holds Bunyan's death certificate.

Site of the Porteous Riots

Discover Site of the Porteous Riots in Edinburgh, Scotland: The location of a citizen uprising that led to a gruesome act of mob justice.

Alavian Dome

Discover Alavian Dome in Hamedan, Iran: This mosque turned crypt is an amazing display of Persian-Islamic architecture.

Carnlough Harbor

Discover Carnlough Harbor in Carnlough, Northern Ireland: This stone harbor was key to Carnlough's limestone industry.

Rumeli Hisari

Discover Rumeli Hisari in Istanbul, Turkey: This half-forgotten fortress was constructed by the Ottoman conqueror of Constantinople.

Prästens Badkar (The Priests Bathtub)

Discover Prästens Badkar (The Priests Bathtub) in Simrishamn, Sweden: The world's only above water sand volcano, believed to once be the bathtub of a priest.

Gol Stave Church Museum

Discover Gol Stave Church Museum in Minot, North Dakota: This museum is a full-size replica of an original church constructed during the 13th-century.

15 London Street

Discover 15 London Street in Edinburgh, Scotland: Inside this home, the Icelandic national anthem was born.

The Wren’s Eggs

Discover The Wren's Eggs in Whitehead, Northern Ireland: These huge glacial erratics are humorously named after a much much smaller bird.

Lake of Cutilia

Discover Lake of Cutilia in Vasche, Italy: This lake was sacred to the Sabine people who constructed a temple here on a floating island.

Paperback Bookshop Rhinoceros

Discover Paperback Bookshop Rhinoceros in Edinburgh, Scotland: This small sculpture honors a shuttered bookshop that was the site of a fiery act of protest.

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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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