Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Mine Hill Preserve

Discover Mine Hill Preserve in Roxbury, Connecticut: The remnants of a 19th-century ironmaking complex hidden in the woods of Connecticut.

Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum

Discover Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum in Adams, Massachusetts: The hero of the women's suffrage movement birth home is now a museum dedicated to her legacy.

Borj Adoumoue

Discover Borj Adoumoue in Salé, Morocco: The city walls of Salé lead to the ruins of this seaside "bastion of tears.".

Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate

Discover Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Guelph, Ontario: A 1975 bylaw prohibits the construction of any building that would block the view of this Gothic Revival church.

The Chapel of Jimmy Ray

Discover The Chapel of Jimmy Ray in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: An artist's suburban abode looks like an architectural fever dream.

‘La Pasionaria’

Discover 'La Pasionaria' in Glasgow, Scotland: Glasgow's memorial to the International Brigade volunteers from Great Britain who fought and died in the Spanish Civil War.

The Toll House Inn

Discover The Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts: This site commemorates the former inn and restaurant where the chocolate chip cookie was first crafted.

The North Pole of Kaukauna

Discover The North Pole of Kaukauna in Kaukauna, Wisconsin: This animatronic Christmas village within an industrial park creates a whimsical juxtaposition.

Cold War Museum

Discover Cold War Museum in Warrenton, Virginia: This museum sits on the site of a decommissioned military communications base.

Prison Chapel at Lincoln Castle

Discover Prison Chapel at Lincoln Castle in Lincoln, England: Inside this chapel, Victorian jailers took the separate system to new levels.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse

Discover Eldred Rock Lighthouse in Alaska: The oldest original lighthouse in Alaska that was born out of a tragic shipwreck.

Vachel Lindsay Home

Discover Vachel Lindsay Home in Springfield, Illinois: The poet’s boyhood home is now dedicated to celebrating his life and legacy.

Brabo Fountain

Discover Brabo Fountain in Antwerp, Belgium: A man throwing a giant severed hand towers over Antwerp’s main square.

Grave of ‘The Great Lafayette’

Discover Grave of 'The Great Lafayette' in Edinburgh, Scotland: A magician and his beloved, pampered canine were buried together, within days of each other, due to a tragic twist of fate.

Polo’s Taqueria

Discover Polo's Taqueria in Tucson, Arizona: Some of Arizona's best spit-roasted tacos al pastor can be found at a weekend swap meet.

Don Sshinda Collection

Discover Don Sshinda Collection in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: An artisanal toy-maker’s works are highlighted in this museum dedicated to the craft of toys.

Chicory Museum

Discover Chicory Museum in Kolkja, Estonia: See tools once used for processing this coffee-substitute plant before sampling its flavor firsthand.

The Towers of Narragansett

Discover The Towers of Narragansett in Narragansett, Rhode Island: The only surviving fragment of the lost Narragansett Pier Casino.

Edmund Szyc Stadium

Discover Edmund Szyc Stadium in Poznań, Poland: An abandoned football stadium with a tragic past.

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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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