Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Grave of Charles Piazzi Smyth

Discover Grave of Charles Piazzi Smyth in Sharow, England: The pyramid-shaped grave of one of the first mountain astronomers and a pyramid theorist.

White Sturgeon and Kokanee Salmon

Discover White Sturgeon and Kokanee Salmon in Revelstoke, British Columbia: This “rusty fish” public art installation makes stopping in Revelstoke all the more rewarding.

Keramat Iskandar Shah

Discover Keramat Iskandar Shah in Singapore: A venerated grave atop an ancient royal hill, often attributed to the last king of Singapura.

Mother and Child

Discover Mother and Child in Singapore: A public statue crafted by Singapore's pioneering sculptor, Ng Eng Teng.

Largemouth Bass Sculpture

Discover Largemouth Bass Sculpture in Dedham, Massachusetts: This art display in Dedham honors a local fish, and is dedicated to the volunteers who restored the canal.

Museum of Material Failures

Discover Museum of Material Failures in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: It may appear to be a fancy junk yard, but each item has a story to tell and a lesson to impart.

Yuzuan Restaurant

Discover Yuzuan Restaurant in Nankoku, Japan: Come for the fish sundae, stay for the collection of Studio Ghibli cat buses.

The Grave of Silas Soule

Discover The Grave of Silas Soule in Denver, Colorado: In a dry, neglected cemetery lies the unassuming grave of a soldier vilified in life but celebrated in death.

Chugwater Soda Fountain

Discover Chugwater Soda Fountain in Chugwater, Wyoming: A small Wyoming town is home to the state's oldest-operating soda fountain.

Dearfield Ghost Town

Discover Dearfield Ghost Town in Orchard, Colorado: In the early 1900s, hundreds of Black Americans found opportunity in this now-abandoned rural community.

Atrani

Discover Atrani in Atrani, Italy: This seaside Italian village doesn't just look Escher-esque, it actually inspired the mind-bending artist.

The Walt Disney Family Museum

Discover The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, California: Inside this museum, the history of the Walt Disney Family empire is on full display.

Balm Well

Discover Balm Well in Edinburgh, Scotland: The healing properties of this well attracted royals and commoners throughout the Middle Ages.

Ralph Carr Memorial, Sakura Square

Discover Ralph Carr Memorial, Sakura Square in Denver, Colorado: In a small Japanese garden off a busy Denver street, a memorial to a brave, principled politician.

Galata House Restaurant

Discover Galata House Restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey: Housed in an old British jail, this spot serves up Georgian, Russian, and Ukrainian specialities with a side of Turkish history.

Valle delle Ferriere

Discover Valle delle Ferriere in Province of Salerno, Italy: Amalfi's pre-industrial history is slowly being engulfed by the lush vegetation of the Ferriere Valley.

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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