Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Gorée Island

Discover Gorée Island in Dakar, Senegal: This tiny, tranquil Senegalese island serves as a powerful symbol of the Atlantic slave trade.

The World’s Loneliest Tree

Discover World's Loneliest Tree in Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku, New Zealand: The most remote tree in the world is more than 170 miles from its nearest neighbor.

Sighișoara Saxon Cemetery

Discover Sighișoara Saxon Cemetery in Sighișoara, Romania: This hauntingly beautiful cemetery outside a medieval citadel is full of winding paths and ivy-covered graves.

Desert of the Lions

Discover Desierto de los Leones (Desert of the Lions) in Mexico City, Mexico: Explore the atmospheric ruins of an abandoned convent in the dense forests of Mexico's first national park.

Kantharodai

Discover Kantharodai in Jaffna, Sri Lanka: This rural Sri Lankan village hides a cluster of small, enigmatic stupas.

The Lady of Elche

Discover The Lady of Elche in Madrid, Spain: An iconic and controversial ancient Iberian funerary urn with a hauntingly penetrating gaze.

Aefre

Discover Aefre in Kent, England: These 1,500-year-old remains were found in a mysterious Anglo-Saxon mass grave.

Jemaa el-Fna Square

Discover Jemaa el-Fna Square in Marrakesh, Morocco: Fortune tellers, snake charmers, poets, and storytellers all gather on this historic square in Morocco.

Dare Stones

Discover Dare Stones in Gainesville, Georgia: A mysterious inscription may hold a clue about the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke.

8bit Cafe

Transport yourself to the 1980s era of video games at this themed restaurant and bar.

Sauriermuseum Aathal

Discover Sauriermuseum Aathal in Seegräben, Switzerland: Europe's largest dinosaur museum was founded by a passionate autodidact.

Al-Attarine Madrasa

Discover Al-Attarine Madrasa in Fez, Morocco: The courtyard of this small Marinid madrasa is a dazzling example of intricate Islamic architecture.

The Writers’ Museum

Discover The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland: This small museum in a 17th-century building honors three iconic Scottish writers.

Idlewild

Discover Idlewild in Idlewild, Michigan: This resort community was known as the "Black Eden of Michigan.".

Ibn Danan Synagogue

Discover Ibn Danan Synagogue in Fez, Morocco: This restored 17th century synagogue is one of the few remaining structures in Morocco’s ruined Jewish quarters.

Pyramids of Tlatelolco

Discover Pyramids of Tlatelolco in Mexico City, Mexico: These haunting ruins of a 700-year-old Prehispanic city have witnessed centuries of wars and massacres.

Menu

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