Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Naters Beinhaus

Discover Naters Beinhaus in Naters, Switzerland: This ossuary is more than five centuries old and is heralded as one of the finest in Switzerland.

El Bunker de JP

Discover El Bunker de JP in Puerto Escondido, Mexico: In this beloved beach town, a secret seafood haven lies tucked behind a car wash.

The Flying Donkey

Discover The Flying Donkey in Rome, Italy: Rome's first modern graffito is all that is left of a peaceful protest from the 1970s.

Fuller Lodge Art Center

Discover Fuller Lodge Art Center in Los Alamos, New Mexico: Once a dining hall for boarding school students, this lodge was a popular haunt for nuclear physicists working on the Manhattan Project.

Glass Bottle Houses

Discover Glass Bottle Houses in Treherne, Manitoba: This small enclave plays host to a house, church, and wishing well all composed entirely of recycled glass bottles.

Ruddy’s General Store Museum

Discover Ruddy's General Store Museum in Palm Springs, California: This general store offers visitors a glimpse back into the 1930s.

Palace Atetelco

Discover Palace Atetelco in San Juan Teotihuacan de Arista, Mexico: This pre-Hispanic apartment complex also includes ancestral paintings that point to its military past.

Mary Willis Library

Discover Mary Willis Library in Washington, Georgia: The first free library in Georgia features an original Tiffany stained glass window of Mary Willis.

Old Spanish Sugar Mill

Discover Old Spanish Sugar Mill in De Leon Springs, Florida: Flip your own pancakes in this old sugar mill within a Florida state park.

Alliierten Museum

Discover Alliierten Museum in Berlin, Germany: This museum is home to a sugar sculpture of the Berlin Airlift Memorial.

Ribblehead Viaduct

Discover Ribblehead Viaduct in Chapel-le-Dale, England: This incredible viaduct was part of the Victorian railway boom and helped the Midland Railway navigate tough terrain.

Tierradentro National Archaeological Park

Discover Tierradentro National Archaeological Park in Inzá, Colombia: This collection of ancient, mountaintop, underground tombs was once hidden by decades of bloodshed.

Nelson’s on Rush River

Discover Nelson's on Rush River in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin: Every winter, dozens of otherworldly ice structures sprout up from a rigged up artesian well.

The Troubadour

Discover The Troubadour in London, England: A 1950s beatnik coffee house, turned 60s counterculture hotspot, turned modern music venue.

Ehrenfesthuis (Ehrenfest House)

Discover Ehrenfesthuis (Ehrenfest House) in Leiden, Netherlands: The house of physicists Paul Ehrenfest was also a temporary dwelling and study for his good friend Albert Einstein.

The Scout Stone

Discover The Scout Stone in Dorset, England: This commemorative stone was erected near the first Scout campsite.

Lord Kira’s Residence

Discover Lord Kira's Residence in Tokyo, Japan: The remains of the vast manor that once belonged to Lord Kira, villain in the 47 Ronin story, is now a shrine dedicated to the incident.

La voie de la Liberté Markers

Discover La voie de la Liberté Markers in Sainte-Mère-Église, France: These unique markers designate the route American forces took during the Liberation of France.

Chef Point Bar & Restaurant

Discover Chef Point Bar & Restaurant in Watauga, Texas: High-end dining has a home in this former gas station.

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

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