Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Ötzi the Iceman

Discover Ötzi the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy: Europe’s oldest natural human mummy.

Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno

Discover Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno in Genoa, Italy: A stunning cemetery famous for its extraordinarily delicate & lifelike mourning sculptures.

Calamita Cosmica

Discover Calamita Cosmica in Foligno, Italy: The giant skeleton sculpture is surprisingly well-traveled.

Towers of San Gimignano

Discover Towers of San Gimignano in San Gimignano, Italy: These medieval skyscrapers dominate the skyline of this small Tuscan town.

Scala dei Turchi

Discover Scala dei Turchi in Realmonte, Italy: "Stairs of the Turks", a chalky white cliff eroded conveniently into stairs, allowing for easy pillaging.

San Giorgio in Alga

Discover San Giorgio in Alga in Venice, Italy: This abandoned island off the Venetian coast has been a radical monastery, a political prison, and a secret Nazi base.

Alberobello

Discover Alberobello in Alberobello, Italy: Southern Italy's spinning top village.

Goats of the Cingino Dam

Discover Goats of the Cingino Dam in Noasca, Italy: This Italian dam is covered in salt-hungry goats who manage to scale its almost vertical face.

Campanile di Curon

Discover Campanile di Curon in Schnals, Italy: Bell tower juts out from a village buried under a lake.

Centrale Montemartini

Discover Centrale Montemartini in Rome, Italy: Gods clash with machines in a power plant regenerated as a museum.

Rome’s Gladiator School

Discover Rome's Gladiator School in Rome, Italy: This historic recreationist school churns out warriors that may very well have had a fighting chance in Rome's pits of the day.

The Bronze Ear of Casa Sola-Busca

Discover The Bronze Ear of Casa Sola-Busca in Milan, Italy: Before there were doorbells this bronze ear was installed for visitors to announce their arrival.

Stibbert Museum

Discover Stibbert Museum in Florence, Italy: Art and armour fill every inch of this rich kid's Italian villa.

The Bull of Santa Maria del Fiore

Discover The Bull of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy: This strange bovine gargoyle is said to have been put in as a passive aggressive form of revenge.

Medieval Village

Discover Medieval Village in Turin, Italy: A fake medieval village in the middle of Turin.

St. Catherine of Siena’s Severed Head

Discover St. Catherine of Siena's Severed Head in Siena, Italy: A dismembered holy head stares out from her beautiful reliquary at the St. Dominic Basilica.

Cinecittà

Discover Cinecittà in Rome, Italy: The studio built by fascists in the hopes of "reviving the film industry" with the occasional propaganda film opportunity thrown in.

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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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