Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Booze History Museum

Discover Booze History Museum in Staten Island, New York: Crammed into several rooms of a Staten Island home, this museum is a vodka-soaked paean to the pleasures of drinking.

Crystal Palace Subway

Discover Crystal Palace Subway in London, England: A relic of Victorian grandeur hides beneath a busy South London road.

La Berta

Discover La Berta in Florence, Italy: Legend says this mysterious stone head belongs to a woman who was petrified by an alchemist.

Gene Kelly’s Pittsburgh Plaque

Discover Gene Kelly's Pittsburgh Plaque in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: This plaque marks a place where one of Hollywood’s most famous dancers got his start.

Nuuk Center

Discover Nuuk Center in Nuuk, Greenland: Greenland's first shopping mall also hosts the country's government.

The Loony Dook

Discover The Loony Dook in Edinburgh, Scotland: Every New Year's Day, locals don gaudy costumes and dive into the frigid Firth of Forth.

Zócalo Metro Models

Discover Zócalo Metro Models in Mexico City, Mexico: These subterranean models show Mexico City's central square during three different eras.

Waterside Viaduct

Discover Waterside Viaduct in Firbank, England: The abandoned railway bridge stands hidden in the farmland of rural Cumbria.

Wahbememe Burial Site and Monument

Discover Wahbememe Burial Site and Monument in White Pigeon, Michigan: A memorial to the Potawatomi chief who allegedly ran nearly 150 miles to alert settlers of an impending attack.

Ruins of Lazaretto de Isla de Cabras

Discover Ruins of Lazaretto de Isla de Cabras in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico: The crumbling remnants of this 19th-century quarantine hospital hint at the touristy island's darker past.

Pou Clar

Discover Pou Clar in Ontinyent, Spain: Locals use these rock pools and waterfalls for swimming and cliff diving.

Omoide Yokocho

Discover Omoide Yokocho in Tokyo, Japan: Colloquially known as “piss alley,” this narrow street filled with tiny bars and barbecue stands looks like it was pulled straight out of “Blade Runner.”.

Siachen Glacier

Discover Siachen Glacier in India / Pakistan: This disputed mass of ice is home to the highest battleground on Earth.

The Upside Down Painting of King Philip V

Discover The Upside Down Painting of King Philip V in Játiva, Spain: This portrait of Philip V is always hung upside down, in a protest three centuries in the making.

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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