Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Tswaing Meteorite Crater

Discover Tswaing Meteorite Crater in Soshanguve, South Africa: An ancient impact crater on the outskirts of Pretoria.

Huddesteen

Discover Huddesteen in Amsterdam, Netherlands: The last of Amsterdam's original sea level markers remaining in place.

The Fire Temple of Yazd

Discover Yazd Atash Behram in Yazd, Iran: The fire inside this temple has burned for more than 1,500 years.

Haut-Kœnigsbourg Castle

Discover Haut-Kœnigsbourg Castle in Orschwiller, France: The castle was reconstructed to fit Kaiser Wilhelm II's romanticized vision of the Middle Ages.

Booksellers’ Row

This charming 17th-century alley is lined with secondhand bookstores and antiquarian shops.

Kilcoy

Discover Kilcoy in Kilcoy, Australia: This small Australian town is considered home to the "Yowie" or the Aussie Big Foot.

Light Kiosk

Discover Light Kiosk in Bogotá, Colombia: Colombia's first concrete structure doubles as a replica of Versaille's Petit Trianon Belvedere and a symbol for development.

Rubens Ceiling at the Banqueting House

Discover Rubens Ceiling at the Banqueting House in London, England: The sumptuous ceiling was one of the last things Charles I saw before his execution.

Park Grove Manor

Discover Park Grove Manor in Oak Park, Illinois: Pumpkin-like gargoyles and grotesques peer down from the rooftop of this unassuming apartment building in Illinois.

David Wallach Memorial Fountain

Discover David Wallach Memorial Fountain in Chicago, Illinois: A 19th-century horse lover's bequest led to the construction of this unique fountain in Chicago.

John W. Jones Museum

Discover John W. Jones Museum in Elmira, New York: A historical home in upstate New York honors the work of John W. Jones, a formerly enslaved man who was a major agent for the Underground Railroad.

Casino de la Rabassada

Discover Casino de la Rabassada in Barcelona, Spain: A once grand hotel now sits eerily abandoned in the Catalan countryside outside Barcelona.

Cosmic Ray Detectors

Discover Cosmic Ray Detectors in Chicago, Illinois: One of the largest pieces of scientific equipment ever carried on a NASA space shuttle sits in a Chicago alley.

Medieval Walls of Ávila

Discover Medieval Walls of Ávila in Ávila, Spain: These magnificent city walls rise from the barren sun-baked Spanish plains like something straight out of a fairytale.

Lego Swedish 1-M Solar Telescope

Discover Lego Swedish 1-M Solar Telescope in Stockholm, Sweden: A 1:42 scale model of the world's second largest lensed telescope.

Mother Goose House

Discover Mother Goose House in Hazard, Kentucky: An enormous goose sits atop this nest-shaped home.

Madeira Botanical Garden

Discover Madeira Botanical Garden in Funchal, Portugal: A lush oasis full of vibrant plants and striking geometric displays.

The Ex-Votos of Churubusco

Discover The Ex-Votos of Churubusco in Mexico City, Mexico: These unusual paintings give thanks to the saints and deities who granted people favors and miracles.

Woolsey Memorial Airport

Discover Woolsey Memorial Airport in Northport, Michigan: A lonely stone-sided terminal stands next to a grass airstrip on Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula.

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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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