Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Belfast Botanic Gardens Palm House

Discover Belfast Botanic Gardens Palm House in Belfast, Northern Ireland: For part of the year, this innovative greenhouse is painted white to keep the plants from getting scorched.

Klingende Sammlung

Discover Klingende Sammlung in Bern, Switzerland: An amazing collection of rare wind instruments where visitors can give the iconic Swiss Alphorn a toot.

Bath Spa Water

Discover Bath Spa Water in Bath, United Kingdom: Make like Jane Austen and sip from the fountain in this famed Pump Room.

Querétaro Aqueduct

Discover Querétaro Aqueduct in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico: A beautiful example of 18th-century engineering still standing tall.

Maison Prévôt

Discover Maison Prévôt in Cavaillon, France: From the dishes to the art, this Michelin-starred restaurant orbits around one beloved French melon.

Rathlin West Lighthouse

Discover Rathlin West Lighthouse in Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland: A beloved upside-down beacon off the coast of Northern Ireland.

Kitab State Geological Reserve

Discover Kitab State Geological Reserve in Shakhrisabz, Uzbekistan: The rocks are a time capsule of a 407-million-year-old Earth.

Landmark on the Sound

Discover Landmark on the Sound in Des Moines, Washington: A historic Masonic building overlooking the Puget Sound.

Telmex Building

Discover Telmex Building in Guadalajara, Mexico: This structure was moved nearly 40 feet while people continued working inside it.

Poulopoulos Hat Factory

Discover Poulopoulos Hat Factory in Athens, Greece: This graffitied 19th-century building was a prototype of European industrial architecture.

Jougs Collar of Duddingston Kirk

Discover Jougs Collar of Duddingston Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland: A medieval device used to punish and shame wrongdoers still hangs outside the village church.

Heinz Erhardt Stele

Discover Heinz Erhardt Stele in Göttingen, Germany: A comedic homage to a beloved German actor.

Little Free Library Carnfunnock Park

Discover Little Free Library Carnfunnock Park in Larne, Northern Ireland: These tiny book repositories are inspiring new readers across Northern Ireland.

Parque de la Papa

Discover Parque de la Papa in Chahuaytire, Peru: A highland eco-park celebrates more than a thousand varieties of tuber.

Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati

Discover Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome, Italy: A fortified medieval basilica on the Caelian Hill preserves extraordinary frescoes and one of Rome's most beautiful hidden cloisters.

Museum of El Santo

Discover Museum of El Santo in Tulancingo de Bravo, Mexico: An old railway building commemorates one of Mexico's most celebrated lucha libre stars.

Buffalo Bill Dam

Discover Buffalo Bill Dam in Cody, Wyoming: At the time of its completion, it was the tallest dam in the world.

Sciennes Jewish Burial Ground

Discover Sciennes Jewish Burial Ground in Edinburgh, Scotland: This tiny weathered plot is one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Scotland.

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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

PP ToS