Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Quiraing

Discover The Quiraing in Isle of Skye, Scotland: Islanders once used this dramatic, otherworldly landscape to hide their cattle from Viking raiders.

Henriette Bathily Women’s Museum

Discover Henriette Bathily Women's Museum in Dakar, Senegal: This Dakar museum exhibits artworks and artifacts honoring the daily lives of Senegalese women.

Uppspretta

Discover Uppspretta in Reykjanesbær, Iceland: This wild explosion of color on a disused water tower tells the whimsical tale of a curious puffin.

St. Mary’s Art Center

Discover St. Mary’s Art Center in Virginia City, Nevada: A former mining hospital is now a vibrant artistic hub.

Wisłoujście Fortress

Discover Wisłoujście Fortress in Gdańsk, Poland: This 700-year-old structure is one of the most unique architectural and historic monuments in Gdańsk.

Davinoff’s Concrete Sculpture Garden

Discover Davinoff's Concrete Sculpture Garden in Old Man Bay, Cayman Islands: Grand Cayman is home to a colorful sculpture garden filled with giant concrete animals.

Gamers El Moro Video Game Museum

Discover Gamers El Moro Video Game Museum in Mexico City, Mexico: A curious museum of old video game consoles hidden in the back of a store.

Bomas of Kenya

Discover Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya: This tourist village in Nairobi celebrates the traditional lifestyles and customs of Kenyan tribes.

Senkwekwe Mountain Gorilla Center

Discover Senkwekwe Mountain Gorilla Center in Democratic Republic of the Congo: The world's only facility where orphaned mountain gorillas are cared for.

Kahuzi-Biéga National Park

Discover Kahuzi-Biéga National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo: One of the last refuges of the endangered eastern lowland gorilla.

Greaser on a Clock

Discover Greaser on a Clock in Queens, New York: A mysterious statue of a leather jacket-clad rebel leans coolly on an odd yellow clock.

Lasva Water Tower

Discover Lasva Water Tower in Lasva, Estonia: This old and disused water tower has received a new life as an art gallery with a piano staircase.

Portland’s Windows of Wonders

Discover Portland's Windows of Wonders in Portland, Oregon: Hundreds of handmade critters fill this tiny window gallery in the heart of Portland's Alberta Arts District.

Ignite Sign Art Museum

Discover Ignite Sign Art Museum in Tucson, Arizona: This collection of neon icons is preserving Arizona's history, one sign at a time.

Woodstock Site

Discover Woodstock Site in Bethel, New York: The dairy farm in upstate New York where nearly half a million people gathered for three days of peace and music in 1969.

Aldbury Stocks and Whipping Post

Discover Aldbury Stocks and Whipping Post in Aldbury, England: A relic of medieval punishment marks the center of this quintessential English village.

Cenote Ik-Kil

Discover Cenote Ik-Kil in Xcalacoop, Mexico: A magical sinkhole on the Yucatán Peninsula is adorned with mini waterfalls and hanging vines.

Fortress of Machaerus

Discover Fortress of Machaerus in Areedh Sub-District, Jordan: These ruins by the Dead Sea is where John the Baptist met his untimely end.

Lakkatura Tea Garden

Discover Lakkatura Tea Garden in Sylhet, Bangladesh: One of the largest and most scenic of Bangladesh's tea gardens.

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