Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Camilo Egas Mural at the New School

Discover Camilo Egas Mural at the New School in New York, New York: After surviving abandonment, this powerful Latin American mural is alive again.

Petraki Monastery

Discover Petraki Monastery in Athens, Greece: The oldest standing Byzantine church in Athens is tucked within a monastery in the middle of an upscale shopping district.

Trampantojo Art of Romangordo

Discover Trampantojo Art of Romangordo in Romangordo, Spain: This small Spanish village is home to dozens of public paintings meant to trick the eye.

Blue Anoles of Gorgona Island

Discover Blue Anoles of Gorgona Island in Guapi, Colombia: The world's only pure blue lizard lives exclusively on this secluded tropical island.

Overthrust Fault

Discover Overthrust Fault in Washington, D.C.: A surprising, but overlooked example of geology in the middle of the nation’s capital.

El Árbol Milenario

Discover El Árbol Milenario in Concá, Mexico: A fairytale-like grove with a crystal-clear spring bubbling under the shade of a massive ancient tree.

‘The Flute Player’

Discover 'The Flute Player' in Stockholm, Sweden: This small statue hints at the incorrect origins of the lush landscape park surrounding it.

Babae Wine Window

Discover Babae Wine Window in Florence, Italy: Drink wine handed out through a window as part of an age-old tradition.

Fazenda Jambeiro (Jambeiro Farm)

Discover Fazenda Jambeiro (Jambeiro Farm) in Campinas, Brazil: A beautiful, abandoned farming headquarters overtaken by nature and graffiti.

Liberian National Museum

Discover Liberian National Museum in Monrovia, Liberia: A comprehensive museum dedicated to Africa's oldest modern republic.

Göttingen Studentenkarzer

Discover Göttingen Studentenkarzer in Göttingen, Germany: One of the oldest student jails in Germany.

Wabash Arts Corridor

Discover Wabash Arts Corridor in Chicago, Illinois: An outdoor urban gallery of large-scale artworks by the world's most influential street artists.

Biopik

Discover Biopik in Rotterdam, Netherlands: A giant yellow phallus sculpture hidden in the gardens of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

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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