Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Val-Jalbert Ghost Town

Discover Val-Jalbert Ghost Town in Métabetchouan-Lac-à-la-Croix, Québec: An abandoned town centered around a paper mill powered by a large waterfall.

Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial

Discover Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial in Toronto, Ontario: A monument to the 17,000 Chinese who worked and died to build Canada's Pacific Railway.

Mount Thor

Discover Mount Thor in Nunavut: Earth's greatest purely vertical drop at 4,101 feet.

Ottawa Jail Hostel

Discover Ottawa Jail Hostel in Ottawa, Ontario: This inexpensive lodging house was once a prison notorious for its inhumane practices.

Niagara Tesla Monument

Discover Niagara Tesla Monument in Niagara Falls, Ontario: Niagara Falls holds a special place in Nikola Tesla's history, so they put a statue on it.

Old Québec Funicular

Discover Old Québec Funicular in Québec City, Québec: This steep cable railway has been hoisting passengers in the heart of Québec City for over a century.

Hopewell Rocks

Discover Hopewell Rocks in Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick: Iconic rock formations that allow for exploration during high or low tide.

Oratoire St. Joseph

Discover Oratoire St. Joseph in Montreal, Québec: City law dictates that this mountaintop cathedral containing the heart of a saint is to remain the tallest building in town.

Banff Merman

Discover Banff Merman in Banff, Alberta: A mysterious taxidermy man-beast of the seven seas.

R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant

Discover R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto, Ontario: This "Palace of Purification" has made many film appearances as a dark and sinister headquarters.

Bean Puzzle Tombstone

Discover Bean Puzzle Tombstone in Wellesley, Ontario: It took over 100 years to decode this enigmatic epitaph for two buried brides.

Trou de la Fée – Protected Bat Cave

Discover Trou de la Fée – Protected Bat Cave in Saint-André-du-Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec: This three-chambered cave is the only protected natural bat hibernaculum in Quebec.

Carbide Willson Ruins

Discover Carbide Willson Ruins in Chelsea, Québec: The remains of a paranoid inventor's hidden workshop lie in beautiful ruins amidst a Canadian park.

The Yorkville Rock

Discover The Yorkville Rock in Toronto, Ontario: This massive, ancient stone was disassembled and then put back together again.

‘Maman’

Discover 'Maman' in Ottawa, Ontario: Louise Bourgeois' 30-foot-tall steel spider sculpture.

Camp 30 POW Camp

Discover Camp 30 POW Camp in Clarington, Ontario: A Canadian POW for German soldiers during WWII where prisoners hatched an elaborate escape plan.

Toronto PATH

Discover Toronto PATH in Toronto, Ontario: One of the largest underground systems runs under Canada's largest urban center.

Stanley Park

Discover Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia: "Girl in a Wetsuit" is what happens when a sculptor has to find a way around a 100 year old copyright.

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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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