Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Wool House

Discover The Wool House in Southampton, England: This 700-year-old storehouse was a POW jail, aviation workshop, and Titanic memorial before becoming a brewpub.

Tad’s Chicken ’n Dumplins

Discover Tad’s Chicken ’n Dumplins in Troutdale, Oregon: This old-fashioned roadhouse's quirky neon sign is as famous as its enormous dumplings.

Kane Street Impaled Pumpkins

Discover Kane Street Impaled Pumpkins in Brooklyn, New York: For 20 years, local pumpkins have met their fate on the iron fence surrounding this Cobble Hill home.

Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve

Discover Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve in Thousand Palms, California: Hike amid the palm trees that thrive among Southern California's Indio Hills.

Tham Lod Cave

Discover Tham Lod Cave in Tambon Tham Lot, Thailand: A mile-long navigable cave adorned with stalactites and stalagmites reaching up to 65 feet tall.

Peace Sign Geoglyph

Discover Peace Sign Geoglyph in Nashville, Tennessee: A heartwarming message to those entering and departing Music City from above.

Librairie Avant-Garde

Discover Librairie Avant-Garde in Nanjing, China: With former lives as a bomb shelter and government parking lot, this shop is one of China’s most extraordinary locales for book-lovers.

Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance

Discover Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale, Ireland: This memorial was created by an Irish nurse who lived in New York City during 9/11.

Namgyal Monastery

Discover Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, New York: This peaceful gem in upstate New York was chosen as the future home of the 14th Dalai Lama's Library and Museum.

James Garfield Memorial Fireplace

Discover James Garfield Memorial Fireplace in Willcox, Arizona: This fireplace-turned-monument pays tribute to the assassinated U.S. president.

Robin Hood’s Hill

Discover Robin Hood's Hill in Oxton, England: This Bronze Age burial mound used to be called "Robin Hood’s Piss-Pot" until it was renamed by spoilsport Victorians.

Rattlesnake Saloon

Discover Rattlesnake Saloon in Tuscumbia, Alabama: You'll need cowboy boots to trek to this old-fashioned saloon nestled in a giant natural cave.

Phu Chi Fah

Discover Phu Chi Fah in Po, Thailand: This mountain sunrise is one of the most breathtaking views in Thailand, yet well off the tourist trail.

Batumi McDonald’s

Discover Batumi McDonald's in Batumi, Georgia: Fast food feels like fine dining at this award-winning modern Georgian building.

Hotel Hershey

Discover Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pennsylvania: This extraordinary Depression-era expenditure was modeled after a postcard of a Mediterranean hotel.

The Raven Lounge

Discover The Raven Lounge in Detroit, Michigan: One of Detroit’s oldest blues clubs stands in defiance of the passage of time and the city’s shifting fortunes.

Alpine Ski Museum

Discover Alpine Ski Museum in Begunje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia: This cutting edge museum details the history of skiing, from its ancient origins to its status as a sport.

Nat Taung Kyaung

Discover Nat Taung Kyaung in Taungbi, Myanmar (Burma): Amazingly, this centuries-old wooden monastery is still standing today.

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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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