Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Musée de la Médecine

Discover Musée de la Médecine in Brussels, Belgium: Medical history with an amazing, if frighting, collection of wax diseases on display.

The Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art

Discover The Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art in Brussels, Belgium: From Tintin to the Smurfs, Europe's greatest graphic icons are celebrated in a grand Art Noveau gallery.

Mini-Europe

Discover Mini-Europe in Brussels, Belgium: Theme park featuring miniature replicas of European monuments.

The Musical Instrument Museum

Discover The Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels, Belgium: Three floors of musical instruments coming from all corners of the world and hundreds of years of musical history.

Délirium Café

Discover Délirium Café in Brussels, Belgium: Cozy basement bar sports an inventory of over 2,000 beers.

The Lucifernum

Discover The Lucifernum in Bruges, Belgium: This former Masonic lodge has been transformed into part museum, part bar, all awesome.

Comic Strip Route

Discover Comic Strip Route in Brussels, Belgium: This collection of over 50 murals celebrates Brussels' rich history as the self-proclaimed home of the "comic strip.".

Gravensteen

Discover Gravensteen in Ghent, Belgium: This fairytale castle was built as a show of power but was nearly torn down thanks to its history of torture.

The Atomium

Discover The Atomium in Brussels, Belgium: Climb inside an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times its normal size.

Le Cercueil (The Coffin)

Discover Le Cercueil (The Coffin) in Brussels, Belgium: The Devil’s own choice when he needs a drink in Brussels.

Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

Discover Royal Greenhouses of Laeken in Brussels, Belgium: Lavish royal estate punctuated with heated greenhouses.

The Blue Forest

Discover The Blue Forest in Halle, Belgium: Each spring, a dreamlike carpet of bluebells overtakes the forest floor.

T. H. White’s Grave

Discover T. H. White’s Grave in Athens, Greece: The burial place of one the greatest Arthurian authors, with the sword in the (grave)stone.

Aiolou Street Excavation Site

Discover Aiolou Street Excavation Site in Athens, Greece: An ancient site that has revealed incredible artifacts including portions of the Themistoclean Wall.

Daphni Monastery

Discover Daphni Monastery in Athens, Greece: This lesser-visited World Heritage site in Athens boasts an impressive ensemble of medieval gold mosaics.

Holy Church of Saint Andrew

Discover Holy Church of Saint Andrew in Athens, Greece: A martyred saint built a nunnery and school for girls here known as the "Parthenon.".

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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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