Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Maishima Incineration Plant

Discover Maishima Incineration Plant in Osaka, Japan: This whimsical garbage disposal facility receives around 12,000 accidental tourists each year.

Whydah Pirate Museum

Discover Whydah Pirate Museum in Yarmouth, Massachusetts: This Cape Cod museum exhibits what it claims is the only authenticated pirate treasure in the world.

The Chairy Orchard

Discover The Chairy Orchard in Denton, Texas: A quirky collection of old chairs fills a random vacant lot in suburban Texas.

Flowers & Gardens Spring Festival

Discover Flowers & Gardens Spring Festival in Mexico City, Mexico: Mexico City decorates its facades with extravagant floral arrangements every year.

Arch of Triumph

Discover Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, North Korea: Pyongyang’s Arch of Triumph is the second tallest triumphal arch in the world.

Martimas’s Grave

Discover Martimas's Grave in Burlington, Ontario: The racehorse's headstone highlights a forgotten part of the Hendrie Park Gardens' history.

Sultana Bar

Discover Sultana Bar in Williams, Arizona: Bootleggers ran booze beneath this building before (and after) Route 66 appeared beside it.

The Pashupatinath Temple

Discover The Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal: The oldest Hindu temple complex in Nepal serves as the seat of Nepal’s national deity, Lord Pashupatinath.

Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm

Discover Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm in Kailua, Hawaii: Get up close and personal with these majestic fish.

Epstein’s Medical Sculptures

Discover Epstein's Medical Sculptures in London, England: A series of carved figures that scandalized British society.

Karl Ernst von Baer Statue

Discover Karl Ernst von Baer Statue in Tartu, Estonia: Once a year, local students "clean" this statue with a champagne shower.

Sandby Borg Ringfort

Discover Sandby Borg Ringfort in Mörbylånga, Sweden: Archaeologists are still unraveling the secrets of the brutal massacre that wiped out this ancient fort.

Worcester Common Burial Ground

Discover Worcester Common Burial Ground in Worcester, Massachusetts: A grave surprise in the downtown area of New England's second-largest city.

Don Alvaro Alley

Discover Don Alvaro Alley in Cáceres, Spain: Fragments of human bones are embedded in the walls of this quaint alley.

Bent’s Old Fort

Discover Bent's Old Fort in La Junta, Colorado: Once a lonely sentinel on the edge of the Great Plains, this rebuilt trading fort offers a glimpse of life on the Santa Fe Trail.

Borrås Skåra

Discover Borrås Skåra in Åkraberg, Sweden: Walking through this narrow gorge will make you feel like you've fallen into a fairytale landscape.

‘Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971’

Discover 'Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971' in Vancouver, British Columbia: This enormous photomural pays homage to Vancouver's infamous history of public activism.

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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

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