Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Chincana Ruins

Discover Chincana Ruins in Comunidad Challapampa, Bolivia: Mysterious Incan ruins on a tiny island in Lake Titicaca.

Margaret Mitchell House

Discover Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, Georgia: The small first-floor apartment where the author wrote her Pulitzer Prize-winning book 'Gone with the Wind.'.

Portage Ghost Town

Discover Portage Ghost Town in Whittier, Alaska: The ruins of a town wiped out by the second-largest earthquake in recorded history.

Ružica Grad

Discover Ružica Grad in Duzluk, Croatia: Legend has it fairies gathered at the site of this medieval castle.

Pongo de Mainique

Discover Pongo de Mainique in La Convención Province, Peru: A paradisical gorge with rapids, waterfalls, and wildlife whose raw beauty is the stuff of CGI movies.

Hoa Hakananai’a

Discover Hoa Hakananai'a in London, England: The "lost friend” is the most famous of the six moai statues that were removed from Easter Island.

Museo Lazaro Galdiano

Discover Museo Lazaro Galdiano in Madrid, Spain: This small and often-overlooked museum holds some of Spain's finest artistic treasures.

Mauritania’s Iron Ore Train

Discover Mauritania Railway in Choum, Mauritania: Climb atop one of the world's longest and heaviest trains for an unbelievable journey across the Sahara Desert.

Gold Butte National Monument

Discover Gold Butte National Monument in Clark County, Nevada: Nearly 300,000 acres of wildlife, natural splendor, and a hidden ghost town have been designated a national monument.

‘She Lies’

Discover 'She Lies' in Oslo, Norway: This floating sculpture of ice is a poignant reminder of nature's power.

Princess Donají Tomb

Discover Princess Donají Tomb in Cuilapam de Guerrero, Mexico: This abandoned convent keeps the tomb of a legendary beheaded princess.

Palmenhaus

Dine amidst exotic plants at this former royal greenhouse.

Dolmen de Dalí

Discover Dolmen de Dalí in Madrid, Spain: The only urban monument in the world designed by the great surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.

Gosse Bluff

Discover Gosse Bluff in Namatjira, Australia: A spectacular impact crater in the rugged heart of Central Australia.

Mary Anning’s Plesiosaur

Discover Mary Anning's Plesiosaur in London, England: This marine reptile was discovered by one of the 19th century's greatest fossil hunters.

Rat Rock in Morningside Heights

Discover Rat Rock in Morningside Heights in New York, New York: This giant boulder is sandwiched between apartment complexes in upper Manhattan.

House Bouchoute

Discover House Bouchoute in Bruges, Belgium: The compass on its front was a handy tool for 17th-century merchants who needed to know the direction of the wind.

Inverted Boat Houses

Discover Inverted Boat Houses in Équihen-Plage, France: These rustic holiday homes are made from discarded fishing boat hulls.

Sumapaz Páramo

Discover Sumapaz Páramo in Cabrera, Colombia: The world's largest ecosystem of its kind is home to South America's only native species of bear.

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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

PP ToS