Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Le Palais Idéal

Discover Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives, France: This whimsical castle of grottoes was the labor of love of a French postman, and one of the greatest achievements of outsider architecture.

Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals

Discover Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals in Paris, France: Known as the "Dodo Manège," this carousel features a herd of animals that have disappeared—or may be gone soon.

Musée Carnavalet

Discover Musée Carnavalet in Paris, France: A museum on the history of Paris, including a set of Napoleon's toiletries, Proust's room, and relics of the Revolution.

Musée Curie

Discover Musée Curie in Paris, France: The history of radiation is on safe display at the foot of a radiation science laboratory.

Parc Monceau

Discover Parc Monceau in Paris, France: The ruins of a Duke's bucolic dream, where camels once roamed alongside "Dutch" windmills and faux-Italian vineyards.

Montparnasse Cemetery

Discover Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, France: A Parisian cemetery where the elite and artistic are interred beneath an eccentric collection of tombs.

Musée de Cluny

Discover Musée de Cluny in Paris, France: Medieval museum built over Roman baths that features famous tapestries of a lady and a unicorn.

Musée de la Vie Romantique

Discover Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris, France: Down a cobblestone alleyway is a museum dedicated to Romanticism, with a secret garden.

Au Bonheur du Jour

Discover Au Bonheur du Jour in Paris, France: Behind the pink curtain, Au Bonheur du Jour, an art gallery of erotic archives.

Le Louxor Palais du Cinema

Discover Le Louxor Palais du Cinema in Paris, France: Egyptian Revival movie palace abandoned for decades and restored in 2013.

Remnants of the Paris Guillotine

Discover Remnants of the Paris Guillotine in Paris, France: Indents in the pavement are all that remain from a grisly death machine in Paris.

Dans le Noir?

Discover Dans le Noir? in Paris, France: "In the Dark" Restaurant in Paris offers dinner in complete darkness.

Salvador Dalí Sundial

Discover Salvador Dalí Sundial in Paris, France: A surrealist timepiece by the artist of melting clocks.

Foucault’s Pendulum

Discover Foucault's Pendulum in Paris, France: 19th century pendulum and a clock restored by a rogue group of guerilla artists.

Statue of Liberty, Pont de Grenelle

Discover Statue of Liberty, Pont de Grenelle in Paris, France: This statue was given to France by the United States to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution.

Musee de la Magie

Discover Musee de la Magie in Paris, France: A museum of magic with a Sadist past.

The Gravestone Courtyard of Paris

Discover The Gravestone Courtyard in Paris, France: Walk upon the mementos of the dead in this Parisian courtyard paved with medieval tombstones.

Musée des Arts et Métiers

Discover Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, France: France's national museum of scientific and industrial instruments.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 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. 474 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. 499 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. 633 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. 135 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. 167 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). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 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. 96 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. 166

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