Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Praglia Abbey

Discover Praglia Abbey in Convento Praglia, Italy: In this nearly 1,000-year-old monastery, monks painstakingly restore old books.

Monteserico Castle

Discover Monteserico Castle in Genzano di Lucania, Italy: Its look is severe, but its location, isolated on a hill in the middle of the countryside, is particularly scenic.

Harakiri Yagura

Discover Harakiri Yagura in Kamakura, Japan: Access to this hidden site of a 14th-century mass suicide is prohibited, unless it is to pray for the dead.

Fort Tarakanivskyy

Discover Fort Tarakanivskyy in Tarakaniv, Ukraine: This hidden fortress has been coined the "City of Ghosts.".

Chateau Impney

Discover Chateau Impney in Rashwood, England: A 19th-century British industrialist built this Louis XIII–inspired chateau for his homesick French wife.

Rih Dil

Discover Rih Dil in Myanmar (Burma): This heart-shaped lake near the border of India and Myanmar is deeply rooted in Mizo folklore.

Old Rhine Bridge

Discover Alte Rheinbrücke (Old Rhine Bridge) in Sevelen, Switzerland: The oldest surviving wooden bridge over Rhine lets travelers cross easily from Switzerland to Liechtensten.

‘Hand & Owl Tree Carving’

Discover 'Hand & Owl Tree Carving' in College Park, Maryland: An unusual sculpture, an interesting history, in a strange place, for a good cause.

The Globe of the Vatican Obelisk

Discover The Globe of the Vatican Obelisk in Rome, Italy: Legend has it that this bronze orb, which sat atop an ancient Egyptian obelisk, once held the ashes of Julius Caesar.

Combe Gibbet

Discover Combe Gibbet in Combe, England: Death hangs in the air here, where a 17th-century gibbet has been erected on a Neolithic tomb.

The Girl in the Shadow Box

Discover The Girl in the Shadow Box in St. Louis, Missouri: One man's unrequited love stands in a glass box forever.

Massimo Listri Foundation

Discover Massimo Listri Foundation in Florence, Italy: An extraordinary house museum and cabinet of curiosities in the heart of Florence.

Keyhole Sink

Discover Keyhole Sink in Williams, Arizona: A small canyon with petroglyphs and a seasonal waterfall, only a short hike from the remnants of old Route 66.

Barton Springs

Discover Barton Springs in Austin, Texas: Home to an endangered salamander, a full moon celebration, and a large spring-fed outdoor swimming pool.

Garrucha Cable Car

Discover Teleférico la Garrucha (Garrucha Cable Car) in Jardín, Colombia: Would you dare to dangle from a great height in a wooden basket?

Assekrem

A century-old stone hermitage overlooks this remote pass in Algeria.

I-17 Mystery Christmas Tree

Discover I-17 Mystery Christmas Tree in Black Canyon City, Arizona: Every year, festive decorations appear on this juniper tree located in the median strip of a busy highway.

Chudnite Skali (Wonderful Rocks)

Discover Chudnite Skali (Wonderful Rocks) in Asparuhovo, Bulgaria: These natural cliffs look like they are a part of an old castle complex.

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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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