Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Mexica Fort on Punta Cometa

Discover Mexica Fort on Punta Cometa in Mexico: Local lore claims this rocky cape hides a lost Aztec treasure.

Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum

Discover Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Leavenworth, Washington: This impressively large collection includes crackers shaped like Jimmy Carter, Mickey Mouse, and more.

WWII Plane Wreckage

Discover WWII Plane Wreckage in Marshall Islands: A war relic that has sat undisturbed since it crash-landed near Arno Atoll.

Santa Fe Shatter Cones

Discover Santa Fe Shatter Cones in Santa Fe, New Mexico: The shattered remnants of a meteor that struck Santa Fe more than a billion years ago.

Abandoned Eriksdal Train Tunnel

Discover Abandoned Eriksdal Train Tunnel in Södermalm, Sweden: It was meant to help transport wounded soldiers to a secret underground hospital.

House of H.G. Wells

Discover House of H.G. Wells in Sandgate, England: In a small Kentish seaside stands the former home of one of the greatest science-fiction writers.

Haus Hiltl

Discover Haus Hiltl in Zurich, Switzerland: Featuring a meatless buffet fit for kings, this family-owned Zurich eatery is considered the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the West.

Frecs the Miner

Discover Frecs the Miner in Galena, Kansas: This statue is an ode to an iconic roadside advertisement popularized during the 1970s.

Cafe Ohlone

Discover Cafe Ohlone in Berkeley, California: The back of a Berkeley bookstore hides a restaurant specializing in local indigenous cuisine.

Fortress of Faith (Greenback Castle)

Discover Fortress of Faith (Greenback Castle) in Greenback, Tennessee: One man has spent decades faithfully constructing this unique brick and cinderblock castle.

Friar’s Bush Graveyard

Discover Friar's Bush Graveyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland: Celebrated in poem, this tiny hidden cemetery has a big and grisly history.

Horse of Mazouco

Discover Horse of Mazouco in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Portugal: This impressive rupestrian engraving dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic period.

Fairy Steps

Discover Fairy Steps in Slack Head, England: These legendary stone steps were once used to haul coffins up the rockface.

A Trail Through Time

Discover A Trail Through Time in Mack, Colorado: This interpretive path lets you get up close and personal with dinosaur bones.

Ruins of Antuni

Discover Ruins of Antuni in Castel di Tora, Italy: A semi-abandoned village destroyed by U.S. bombings during World War II dominates the valley of Turano.

Yonder Mountain Nursery & Gardens

Discover Yonder Mountain Nursery & Gardens in Bethlehem, New Hampshire: This small, unassuming, nursery plays hosts to some unique plant life.

Casa Pueblo

Discover Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico: This community-driven organization uses education and eco-friendly technology to protect the environment.

Museo Dolores Olmedo

Discover Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City, Mexico: This extraordinary art museum is like a secret world on the edge of Mexico City.

Punta Gallinas Lighthouse

Discover Punta Gallinas Lighthouse in Uribia, Colombia: A lighthouse marking the northernmost point of continental South America.

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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