Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Rat’s Restaurant

Discover Rat's Restaurant in Hamilton Township, New Jersey: Step into Monet's world at this fine-dining restaurant in the middle of a New Jersey sculpture park.

Yusuhara Town Library

Discover Yusuhara Town Library in Yusuhara, Japan: High in the mountains of Kochi Prefecture, a magnificent library designed by a world-famous architect.

The Green Police Box

Discover The Green Police Box in Sheffield, England: This police call box harkens back to an era of pre-radio communications, and has a rather unique feature.

Museum of Lincolnshire Life

Discover Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln, England: The charming collection illustrates life in Lincolnshire in the 18th through 20th centuries.

Tom’s Logging Camp

Discover Tom's Logging Camp in Duluth, Minnesota: This quirky roadside attraction provides insight into Minnesota's logging history.

Achterhoeks Planetarium

Discover Achterhoeks Planetarium in Toldijk, Netherlands: An impressive array of unique homemade planetariums.

Papa Joe’s Biersalon Klimperkasten

Discover Papa Joe's Biersalon Klimperkasten in Cologne, Germany: If the tunes of antique organs and musical marionettes don't intoxicate you, the draft beer certainly will.

Wanuskewin

Discover Wanuskewin in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Sample cuisine inspired by the Great Plains indigenous people who have been gathering at this sacred Canadian Heritage Park for 6,000 years.

Madam C.J. Walker Museum & WERD Radio

Discover Madam C.J. Walker Museum & WERD Radio in Atlanta, Georgia: The legacies of two historic Black American institutions live on in this unassuming brick building.

‘The American Football House’

Discover 'The American Football House' in Urbana, Illinois: The house is an iconic pilgrimage site for fans of the Illinois-based emo band.

Temple Ehécatl

Discover Temple Ehécatl in Mexico City, Mexico: This Aztec structure remained hidden until the demolition of a supermarket exposed the lost temple.

Dolmen of Guadalperal

Discover Dolmen of Guadalperal in Peraleda de la Mata, Spain: This 7,000-year-old megalithic wonder covered by a Franco-era reservoir emerges in times of drought.

Haint Blue Porch Ceilings

Haint blue, a Gullah Geechee tradition found in the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry, protects the home from malevolent spirits.

Morelia Aqueduct Water Box

Discover Morelia Aqueduct Water Box in Morelia, Mexico: This feature of the city's aqueduct has achieved numismatic fame thanks to its appearance on Mexican banknotes.

Pueblo Harvest

Discover Pueblo Harvest in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Eat like pre-Columbian Native Americans in this New Mexico restaurant within the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.

Daniel Monnier’s Le Lot

Discover Daniel Monnier’s Le Lot in Bouziès, France: The beautiful bas-relief lines a sliver of a 19th-century walking path between two charming French villages.

El Charco del Ingenio (The Mill Puddle)

Discover El Charco del Ingenio (The Mill Puddle) in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: This botanical garden boasts sculptures, industrial ruins, and an endorsement from the Dalai Lama.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum

Discover Pijpencabinet (Amsterdam Pipe Museum) in Amsterdam, Netherlands: This vast collection of smoking pipes from across the world spans centuries.

Baker Archaeological Site

Discover Baker Archaeological Site in Baker, Nevada: This ancient village provides insight into the complexity of the pre-Columbian Fremont Culture.

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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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