Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Wildlife Mural

Discover Wildlife Mural in Edinburgh, Scotland: One of Edinburgh's most popular works of street art is located well off the beaten path.

Great Falls Nike Missile Launch Site W-83

Discover Great Falls Nike Missile Launch Site W-83 in Herndon, Virginia: An out-of-place Air Force radar dome is all that denotes this park as a former missile launch site.

Tham Piew Cave

Discover Tham Piew Cave in Muang Kham, Laos: A tangible and sobering reminder of an atrocity that took place during a secret war.

Tsuki Shrine

Discover Tsuki Shrine in Saitama, Japan: A unique Shinto shrine filled with bunnies and wordplay.

Big Mine Run Geyser

Discover Big Mine Run Geyser in Ashland, Pennsylvania: The only geyser in the state of Pennsylvania is caused by pressure from an abandoned coal mine outside of the ghost town Centralia.

Carrickfergus Rangers Stone

Discover Carrickfergus Rangers Stone in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland: This stone honors the U.S. Rangers who made Carrickfergus their home base during World War II.

HaliPuu’s Campfire Barista

Discover HaliPuu's Campfire Barista in Sirkka, Finland: In the Hugging Tree Forest, lingonberry marshmallows, hot chocolates, and the best campfire lattes north of the Arctic Circle come to you.

Temple of Minerva Medica

Discover Temple of Minerva Medica in Rome, Italy: Believed to be the remains of the lost Temple of Minerva, this nymphaeum has been known by its misnomer to this day.

Stanbury Jacko

Discover Stanbury Jacko in Geelong, Australia: A stuffed, prize-winning ram is all that remains of a world-renowned stud line, and a reminder of its owner's gruesome end.

Twilight Epiphany Skyspace

Discover Twilight Epiphany Skyspace in Houston, Texas: Artist James Turrell's ode to dawn and dusk on the campus of Rice University.

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.

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

PP ToS