Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Grave of Sevilla Jones

Discover Grave of Sevilla Jones in New Boston, New Hampshire: This young woman's tombstone names her murderer, who is buried in the same cemetery.

Graveface Museum

Discover Graveface Museum in Savannah, Georgia: Hidden amid the old-world charm of Savannah is a museum dedicated to the world of oddities and criminal history.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Discover Cedar Breaks National Monument in Brian Head, Utah: Erosion and various mineral deposits give this striking canyon its distinct color and soft appearance.

Cathedral of Immaculate Conception

Discover Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Comayagua, Honduras: This neoclassic cathedral also houses what is believed to be the oldest clock in the Americas.

Hydrierwerke Pölitz

Discover Hydrierwerke Pölitz in Police, Poland: This now-defunct synthetic fuel plant was once a major cog in the Nazi war machine.

The Secret Chamber House of Oddities and Artwork

Discover The Secret Chamber House of Oddities and Artwork in Fairborn, Ohio: Inside this wonderland of weird, visitors are treated to a collection ranging from skeletons to haunted artifacts.

Mikasa Memorial Warship

Discover Mikasa Memorial Warship in Yokosuka, Japan: The last remaining predreadnought battleship in the world has been a museum for nearly a century.

Hampsfell Hospice

Discover Hampsfell Hospice in Cumbria, England: This tower was created by the area's vicar as a shelter for exhausted travelers, complete with a fireplace and breathtaking views.

‘Antinous as Vertumnus’

Discover 'Antinous as Vertumnus' in Tokyo, Japan: Unbeknownst to most passersby, this marble statue standing outside an office building is a genuine piece of second-century Rome.

Museum Vleeshuis

Discover Museum Vleeshuis in Antwerp, Belgium: This former guildhall with a bacon-like exterior is now home to a museum covering 600 years of Antwerp's musical history.

Nello and Patrasche

Discover Nello and Patrasche in Antwerp, Belgium: This statue dedicated to the story of a Flemish boy and his dog was relatively obscure in Belgium, but a cult sensation in Japan.

Spadeadam Rocket Test Site

Discover Spadeadam Rocket Test Site in Gilsland, England: In the middle of a barren moorland, the remnants of a lost British Space Age stand like a 20th-century Stonehenge.

Roger La Grenouille

Discover Roger La Grenouille in Paris, France: This frog-themed restaurant was frequented by Picasso, Saint-Exupéry, and more.

Lange Wapper Statue

Discover Lange Wapper Statue in Antwerp, Belgium: This legendary giant, born from vegetables, terrorized townspeople and cheated local children in games.

Stephen Wise Recreation Area

Discover Stephen Wise Recreation Area in New York, New York: A playground the size of a city block is a modernist monument to civic values and public housing.

The Tower of London Menagerie

Discover The Tower of London Menagerie in London, England: These wire animal sculptures commemorate the exotic inhabitants that once called the Tower of London home.

Homestead National Monument

Discover Homestead National Monument in Beatrice, Nebraska: This was the first homestead registered after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law.

Heave Awa Hoose

Discover Heave Awa Hoose in Edinburgh, Scotland: This monument is dedicated to a young boy who survived a disaster that forced Edinburgh to reevaluate its building codes.

Plutonian Cave of Eleusis

Discover Plutonian Cave of Eleusis in Elefsina, Greece: According to legend, this cavern holds the passage that Persephone used to travel to and from the underworld.

History of Stickers Museum

Discover History of Stickers Museum in Toronto, Ontario: This museum explores the history of stickers and is home to RePEELed, an exhibit featuring sticker art from around the world.

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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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