Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Carl’s Critter Garden

Discover Carl's Critter Garden in Hanksville, Utah: This outsider art paradise is filled with dinosaur sculptures crafted from recycled machinery.

Amsterdam Cheese Museum

Discover Amsterdam Cheese Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands: This cheese shop also houses a museum devoted to Dutch dairy.

Mystery Craters

Discover Mystery Craters in South Kolan, Australia: The 25-million-year-old cavities have perplexed people for decades.

Marcell Experimental Forest

Discover Marcell Experimental Forest in Bovey, Minnesota: A futuristic climate change study is nestled deep within this public land.

‘Alec the Goose’

Discover 'Alec the Goose' in Belfast, Northern Ireland: The statue honors a beloved bird that once roamed St. George's Market.

North End Street Utensils

Discover North End Street Utensils in Boston, Massachusetts: Silverware in the sidewalk outside a grocery store cements this neighborhood’s Italian culinary history.

Red Oak Steakhouse

Discover Red Oak Steakhouse in Quapaw, Oklahoma: The Quapaw tribe supplies the meat and produce in this Oklahoma casino restaurant.

Bald Jesus Fresco

Discover Bald Jesus Fresco in Rsovci, Serbia: This fresco inside a Serbian cave church has been a source of disagreement.

Defiance Roadhouse

Discover Defiance Roadhouse in Defiance, Missouri: Who said a biker bar is no place for a taxidermy squirrel collection?

The Little Church

Discover The Little Church in Drumheller, Alberta: A six-person chapel n the middle of Alberta's badlands.

Literary Café

Discover Literary Café in Saint Petersburg, Russia: Once frequented by heavyweights of the Russian arts scene, this café is stuck in the 1800s.

Atlas Coal Mine

Discover Atlas Coal Mine in Drumheller, Alberta: A seven-story wooden coal tipple stands this former mine, the last of many that once covered this area.

Amsterdam Tulip Museum

Discover Amsterdam Tulip Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands: Tucked in the back of a flower shop, its collection details the fascinating history of the Netherlands's iconic symbol.

Giardini del Belvedere

Discover Giardini del Belvedere in Piazza, Italy: Inside this park resides a giant clock tower and ancient sundial that overlook the town below.

Cordell Hull Birthplace Museum

Discover Cordell Hull Birthplace Museum in Byrdstown, Tennessee: The longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner was born in this humble cabin.

The Accordion Man

Discover The Accordion Man in Cotati, California: A tribute to one man's legacy of improving the accordion's reputation.

The Hobbit Café

Discover The Hobbit Café in Houston, Texas: A taste of Middle Earth, in the middle of the Bayou City.

Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery

Discover Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland: The final resting place of more than 200,000 people, this is one of the largest cemeteries in Europe.

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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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