Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Condominio Insurgentes

Discover Condominio Insurgentes in Mexico City, Mexico: A jewel of the Mexico city skyline now slowly crumbles after surviving an earthquake.

Viejo San Juan Parangaricutiro

Discover Viejo San Juan Parangaricutiro in Angahuan, Mexico: This church, buried halfway in lava rock, is all that remains of a Mexican village destroyed by a volcano.

Toniná

Discover Toniná in Mexico: The enigmatic and seldom visited ruins of a Mayan city-state.

Grutas de García

Discover Grutas de García in García, Mexico: Inside this mountain lies several kilometers of breathtaking caves.

Cosmovitral Botanical Garden

Discover Cosmovitral Botanical Garden in Toluca, Mexico: Stained glass windows bathe this botanical garden in cosmic light.

Church of Santa María Tonantzintla

Discover Church of Santa María Tonantzintla in San Andrés Cholula, Mexico: An indigenous take on European design creates a stunning visual overload.

Cave of the Hanging Snakes

Discover Cave of the Hanging Snakes in José María Morelos, Mexico: Cave where bat-eating snakes hang down from the ceiling.

Conch Shell House

Discover Conch Shell House in Isla Mujeres, Mexico: Beach instrument turned bed and breakfast.

La Rotonda del Mar

Discover La Rotonda del Mar in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: A Lovecraftian altar of nightmarish bronze chairs sits ominously on a boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta.

Yaxchilan

Discover Yaxchilan in Champa, Mexico: The ruins of an ancient Mayan city, beautifully preserved and only accessible by boat.

Calakmul

Discover Calakmul in Mexico: A hidden treasure of an abandoned city lies deep in the jungles of Campeche, Mexico.

A River… Underwater

Discover Cenote Angelita in Chumkopó, Mexico: A flooded Mexican cave that hides a river beneath the water.

Cenote Zací

Discover Cenote Zací in Valladolid, Mexico: If you can look past the nearby sewer pipes, this urban sinkhole grotto is a mini-paradise.

Guachimontones

Discover Guachimontones in Teuchitlán, Mexico: The jewel of western Mexico's archaeological legacy is this tiered circular pyramid now covered in grass.

Los Prismas Basálticos Waterfalls

Discover Los Prismas Basálticos Waterfalls in Huasca de Ocampo, Mexico: Two waterfalls flow down the cliff faces decorated with rare natural basalt columns.

Chicxulub Crater

Buried beneath thousands of feet of limestone in the Yucatán Peninsula are the remains of an impact so great that it wiped out the dinosaurs—and more than half of the species on Earth at the time. The Chicxulub Crater, named after the village that li…

Sótano de las Golondrinas

Discover Sótano de las Golondrinas (Cave of Swallows) in Huehuetlán, Mexico: The largest cave shaft in the world is home to thousands of birds and popular with BASE jumpers.

The Arch of Cabo San Lucas

Discover The Arch of Cabo San Lucas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico: A graceful natural rock formation stands astride the point where the Gulf of California meets the Pacific Ocean.

Menu

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