Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Landscape Arch

Discover Landscape Arch in Moab, Utah: The fifth-longest natural arch in the world, and the longest outside China.

Anton Wilhelm Amo Monument

Discover Anton Wilhelm Amo Monument in Halle (Saale), Germany: The monument honors the first (and for a long time, only) African-born philosopher to teach at a German university.

Pueblo Levee Mural

Discover Pueblo Levee Mural in Pueblo, Colorado: This three-mile concrete levee in Pueblo, Colorado was transformed into the world’s longest painting.

Cherry Growers Weigh Station

Discover Cherry Growers Weigh Station in Traverse City, Michigan: This vacant station is a relic of harvest processing techniques of the mid-20th century.

Parc des Félins

Discover Parc des Félins in Lumigny-Nesles-Ormeaux, France: A unique zoological park home to over 30 species of wild cats, both big and small.

Chicken Bone Beach

Discover Chicken Bone Beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey: Once forgotten, this strip of sand was a rare beachside haven for Black Americans in Atlantic City.

The Archduke of Austria’s Michigan Grave

Discover The Archduke of Austria's Michigan Grave in Suttons Bay, Michigan: Where else would you expect to find the gravesite of European royalty than the windswept dunes of rural Northern Michigan?

Schöneberg Gasometer

Discover Schöneberg Gasometer in Berlin, Germany: The skeletal frame of a decommissioned gas-pumping station offers breathtaking views of greater Berlin.

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary

Discover Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee: This former maximum-security prison is creepy, sobering, and supposedly haunted.

Monarch Butterfly Grove

Discover Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach, California: Thousands of migrating monarchs overwinter clustered amongst the eucalyptus trees.

Scottish Borders Wojtek the Soldier Bear

Discover Scottish Borders Wojtek the Soldier Bear in Duns, Scotland: The beloved war-time celebrity spent time in the area before retiring to the Edinburgh Zoo.

Coast Guard City Monument

Discover Coast Guard City Monument in Traverse City, Michigan: A humble ode to the heroic air rescue efforts of the United States Coast Guard serving on the Great Lakes.

‘Tapestry of Life’ Mural

Discover 'Tapestry of Life' Mural in London, England: This peeling mural of Adam and Eve was inspired by the greenhouses at Kew Gardens.

Son of the Tree of the Night of Sorrows

Discover Son of the Tree of the Night of Sorrows in Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico: A sapling of the legendary tree where conquistador Hernán Cortés sat and wept after an Aztec uprising.

Hatteras Weather Bureau Station

Discover Hatteras Weather Bureau Station in Hatteras, North Carolina: This historic sunny-yellow building has an unfortunate connection to the sinking of the Titanic.

Bluie East Two

Discover Bluie East Two in Ikateq, Greenland: A surprisingly beautiful abandoned World War II military base in East Greenland.

Tamr Hena Museum

Discover Tamr Hena Museum in Alexandria, Egypt: Part shoe store, part sociopolitical art gallery, part zoo.

Tyska Kyrkan Weather Vane

Discover Tyska Kyrkan Weather Vane in Stockholm, Sweden: This centuries-old rooster survived a devastating fire.

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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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