Archives: Atlas Obscuras

St. Clair Park

Discover St. Clair Park in Greensburg, Pennsylvania: Originally a cemetery, this city park remains speckled with a handful of scattered gravestones.

Huis Doorn

Discover Huis Doorn in Doorn, Netherlands: The elegant manor house where Kaiser Wilhelm II lived in exile after World War I.

Millennium Clock Tower

Discover Millennium Clock Tower in Edinburgh, Scotland: The dance of this huge clock is a magnificent and eerie commentary on good and evil in the history of humankind.

Bara Imambara

Discover Bara Imambara in Lucknow, India: This magnificent 18th-century hall consists of a maze of nearly a thousand interconnected passages.

George Harrison Commemorative Mural

Discover George Harrison Commemorative Mural in Benton, Illinois: The famous Beatle secretly visited this Illinois town several times to visit his sister.

Abandoned Luten Arch Bridge

Discover Abandoned Luten Arch Bridge in Summerville, Georgia: Bypassed and forgotten, this double arch bridge is slowly being reclaimed by nature.

Abrams Creek Underwater Bridge

Discover Abrams Creek Underwater Bridge in Tallassee, Tennessee: Abandoned for 60 years, this submerged bridge was completely forgotten until the lake was drained.

Móstoles Planets Garden

Discover Móstoles Planets Garden in Móstoles, Spain: A model solar system adds a celestial touch to this suburban park.

Hoggatt House

Discover Hoggatt House in High Point, North Carolina: This colonial cabin is the oldest building in High Point, built by one of the first settlers in the area.

Frederiksborg Castle

Discover Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, Denmark: This striking royal residence is the largest Renaissance-style castle in Scandinavia.

Old Crossing Treaty Memorial

Discover Old Crossing Treaty Memorial in Huot, Minnesota: A lone bronze figure stands in memory of historic a 19th century land grab.

Chalcatzingo

Discover Chalcatzingo in Chalcatzingo, Mexico: In the Valley of Morelos lies a mysterious Olmec site with signs of jaguar veneration.

KGB Cartagena

Discover KGB Cartagena in Cartagena, Colombia: In the middle of one of South America's most historic walled cities lies a bar with an enormous collection of Soviet memorabilia.

Tank Graveyard

Discover Tank Graveyard in Asmara, Eritrea: Wander among hulking piles of rusted machinery left over from the Eritrean-Ethiopian War.

Faulkner House Books

Discover Faulkner House Books in New Orleans, Louisiana: Shop for books in the New Orleans house where William Faulkner once lived.

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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