Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Naminara Republic

This island micronation is dedicated to celebrating imagination and fairy tales.

Bath Road Heronry

Discover Bath Road Heronry in Peninsula, Ohio: Beside a busy highway, a colony of Great Blue Herons raises hundreds of offspring each year.

Hamilton Crescent

Discover Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow, Scotland: The site of the first international football match.

Canada Malting Silos

Discover Canada Malting Silos in Montreal, Québec: This crumbling industrial fortress has attracted daredevils, filmmakers, and historians.

Modena Archivolt

Discover Modena Archivolt in Modena, Italy: One of the earliest depictions of an Arthurian scene that is shrouded in mystery.

Raichle’s Palace

Discover Raichle's Palace in Subotica, Serbia: This dazzling Art Nouveau mansion is now home to the Modern Art Gallery Subotica.

Cave of Swimmers

Discover Cave of Swimmers in Al Wahat Al Dakhla Desert, Egypt: A hyper-remote desert cave dramatized in "The English Patient.".

Latin Church

Discover Latin Church in Gornji Matejevac, Serbia: An 11th-century Byzantine church with medieval Serbian history and spectacular views.

Sisupalgarh

This ancient city was built in a perfect square.

Arco Naturale

Discover Arco Naturale (Natural Arch) in Capri, Italy: This clifftop arch is a natural stunner.

Segóbriga Archaeological Park

Discover Segóbriga Archaeological Park in Saelices, Spain: One of the most important Celtic-Roman archaeological sites in Spain.

‘Babies’

Discover 'Babies' in Prague, Czechia: Straight out of a nightmare, barcode-faced babies climb up and down Prague's television tower.

Royal Stables of Meknes

Discover Royal Stables of Meknes in Meknes, Morocco: The ruins of an early-18th-century complex that could once house up to 12,000 horses.

John Muir’s Giant Sequoia

Discover John Muir's Giant Sequoia in Martinez, California: A sparse, solitary sequoia still stands as a living tribute to the famous conservationist who planted it—but it's dying.

Tashkooh Burning Hill

Discover Tashkooh Burning Hill in Ramhormoz, Iran: Leaking natural gas never stops burning on this hill, making it an infinite inferno.

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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

PP ToS