Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Prato della Valle

Discover Prato della Valle in Padua, Italy: One of the largest squares in Europe contains an entire artificial island.

Giorgi’s Furnace

Discover Giorgi's Furnace in Ferentino, Italy: Production site for handmade clay bricks.

The Warrior of Capestrano

Discover The Warrior of Capestrano in Chieti, Italy: One of the earliest relics of Italian art is this ornately equipped stone soldier.

Torri Morandi

Discover Torri Morandi in Messina, Italy: An abandoned building that once tightened a power line that stretched across Messina Strait.

Tempio Canoviano

Discover Tempio Canoviano in Possagno, Italy: This artistic temple brings together multiple architecture styles, but is only an example of one.

Monte Nuovo

Discover Monte Nuovo in Pozzuoli, Italy: Italy's "New Mountain" rose from the ground in a volcanic eruption in 1538.

Casa del Petrarca (Petrarch House Museum)

Discover Casa del Petrarca (Petrarch House Museum) in Arquà Petrarca, Italy: A modest museum in the final home of Italian poet and father of modern Italian, Francesco Petrarca.

Colossus of San Carlo Borromeo

Discover Colossus of San Carlo Borromeo in San Carlo, Italy: For hundreds of years, this huge figure has been blessing visitors before they explore his body.

Relics of the Apostle St. Thomas

Discover Relics of the Apostle St. Thomas in Ortona, Italy: The relics of one of Jesus' 12 apostles are enshrined in this Italian Basilica.

The Stele of Mount Musinè

Discover The Stele of Mount Musinè in Val della Torre, Italy: A mysterious stele of unknown origin sits on the peak of this curious mountain.

Torre Bert Listening Station

Discover Torre Bert Listening Station in Turin, Italy: Some people believe that this makeshift space monitoring station received transmissions from clandestine cosmonauts.

Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum

Discover Peter Mitterhofer Typewriter Museum in Partschins, Italy: Typewriter museum housing more than 1,500 machines preserves the history of the grandfather of computers.

Sabaudia

Discover Sabaudia in Sabaudia, Italy: A town saturated in Italian rationalist architecture was once marshland drained by Mussolini.

Liver of Piacenza

Discover Liver of Piacenza in Piacenza, Italy: The entire known universe of the ancient Etruscans is held inside this bronze model of a sheep’s liver.

Alba Fucens

Discover Alba Fucens in Alba, Italy: Ever loyal to Roma, the small village of Albe in the Abruzzo region carried on until an earthquake did it in.

Pylons of Messina

Discover Pylons of Messina in Messina, Italy: Climb the dead electric pylons of Messina.

Museo Canova

Discover Museo Canova in Possagno, Italy: The home of a neoclassical master is now a shrine to his chosen art style.

Tempio Voltiano

Discover Tempio Voltiano in Como, Italy: Old batteries and frog skeletons reside in this lakeside monument to Alessandro Volta.

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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