Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato

Discover Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Mexico: Mexico's astounding mummy museum with "the world's smallest mummy.".

Hierve El Agua

Discover Hierve El Agua in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Mexico: This beautifully deceptive waterfall is something far different from what it appears to be.

Museo del Objeto del Objeto

Discover Museo del Objeto del Objeto in Mexico City, Mexico: At a museum of everyday objects, it is the act of collecting that is really on display.

National Museum of Death

Discover National Museum of Death in Aguascalientes, Mexico: A uniquely robust and historic look at Mexico's omnipresent dance with Death.

Palenque

Discover Palenque in Palenque, Mexico: An elaborate Mayan city shrouded in alien conspiracy revealed the tomb of Pacal the Great.

Museo de la Medicina Mexicana

Discover Museo de la Medicina Mexicana in Mexico City, Mexico: A scientific repository of goiters, boils and other ailments throughout Mexican history.

Nautilus House

Discover Nautilus House in Naucalpan, Mexico: This fantastical house shaped like a seashell brings aquatic design to architecture.

Museo Casa de León Trotsky

Discover Museo Casa de León Trotsky in Mexico City, Mexico: A museum in the former home of Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Museo Subacuático de Arte

Discover Museo Subacuático de Arte in Cancún, Mexico: Underwater art project will double as a massive artificial coral reef to help regenerate the damaged ecosystem.

Pet Cemetery Cenote

Discover Pet Cemetery Cenote in Tulum, Mexico: An ancient system of freshwater caves filled with animal bones, including that of species long-extinct.

El Tepozteco

Discover El Tepozteco in Tepoztlán, Mexico: High atop a Mexican rainforest mountain, this ancient pyramid once drew pilgrims countries away.

Chapultepec Castle

Discover Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, Mexico: The only castle in North America to ever house European sovereigns.

Fuente de Tláloc

Discover Fuente de Tláloc in Mexico City, Mexico: Diego Rivera's massive tiled fountain and failed infrastructure project.

El Caracol

Discover El Caracol in Chichen Itza, Mexico: No telescopes, no power, no gift shop: The Observatory of Chichen Itza, one of the world's oldest observatories, takes astronomy back to basics.

The Great Pyramid of Cholula

Discover The Great Pyramid of Cholula in San Andrés Cholula, Mexico: An Aztec temple, the largest man-made pyramid in the world, sits buried in earth with a Spanish church set on top.

Museo del Juguete Antiguo México

Discover Museo del Juguete Antiguo México in Mexico City, Mexico: Visiting this cacophonous collection of vintage novelties is like stepping into the mind of a crazed toymaker.

The Mummies at Museo de El Carmen

Discover The Mummies at Museo de El Carmen in Mexico City, Mexico: Twelve natural mummies are displayed in the crypt of this former monastery school.

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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