Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Tubohotel

Discover Tubohotel in Tepoztlán, Mexico: Concrete construction materials turned into a fashionable capsule hotel in rural Mexico.

San Lorenzo Aké

Discover San Lorenzo Aké in Aké, Mexico: A hacienda that features all things uniquely Yucatán.

The Parthenon of El Negro

Discover The Parthenon of El Negro in Zihuatanejo, Mexico: A notoriously corrupt Chief of Police's deteriorating Greek-themed playhouse.

Mayan 2012 Prophecy Carvings

Discover Mayan 2012 Prophecy Carvings in Villahermosa, Mexico: This singular broken monument, now housed in a museum, was the cause of a worldwide "Mayan Doomsday" phenomenon.

Mapimí Silent Zone

Discover Mapimí Silent Zone in Ceballos, Mexico: A US military accident created the legends behind this Mexican version of the Bermuda Triangle.

Hotel Quinta Real

Discover Hotel Quinta Real in Zacatecas, Mexico: Hotel designed around a 16th century Mexican bullring.

Cabeza de Juárez

Discover Cabeza de Juárez in Mexico City, Mexico: This giant expressionist head crowns a museum devoted to a beloved Mexican leader.

Pomuch Cemetery

Discover Pomuch Cemetery in Pomuch, Mexico: Once a year in Pomuch, the dead are taken out for a cleaning.

Temple of Santa Muerte

Discover Temple of Santa Muerte in Santa Ana Chapitiro, Mexico: This church devoted to Mexico's "dead saint" is a festive celebration of a formerly hidden religious figure.

Alley of the Kiss

Discover Alley of the Kiss in Guanajuato, Mexico: A Mexican Romeo-and-Juliet-esque legend has given this super-narrow alleyway a reputation for romance.

Hussong’s Cantina

Discover Hussong's Cantina in Ensenada, Mexico: A 19th-century Baja cantina that many say is the birthplace of the margarita.

Centro Ceremonial Otomí

Discover Centro Ceremonial Otomí in Temoaya, Mexico: This ceremonial Mexican square looks as though it belongs in a science fiction movie.

La Pascualita Is Not Your Average Mannequin

Chihuahua, Mexico’s La Pascualita has been giving window shoppers the creeps for decades with her eerily lifelike appearance and possible adventures after dark.  Dressed in bridal wear and exhibited in an otherwise unremarkable storefront window, La …

House of Laments

Discover House of Laments in Guanajuato, Mexico: Kitschy horror displays now fill the house where some very real serial killing took place.

La Lobera

Discover La Lobera in San Antonio, Mexico: Huge hole looks down onto an underground beach populated with sea lions.

La Mona

Discover La Mona in Tijuana, Mexico: Giant nude woman of Tijuana is also the artist's home.

Xochicalco Pyramids

Discover Xochicalco Pyramids in Xochicalco, Mexico: The ruins of an ancient city built by Mayan traders is centered around a temple of a sacred feathered serpent deity.

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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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