Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Lauriston Castle

Discover Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland: This allegedly haunted 16th-century tower house-turned-museum exhibits thousands of spectacular objects.

Statue of Queen Victoria

Discover Statue of Queen Victoria in Georgetown, Guyana: Though dynamited and defaced, the statue still stands outside the law courts in Georgetown, Guyana.

Golden Statue of David

Discover Golden Statue of David in Louisville, Kentucky: The Midwestern United States' tribute to Michelangelo is a foam statue sprayed with gaudy gold paint.

Bat Creek Stone

Discover Bat Creek Stone in Cherokee, North Carolina: Cherokee alphabet, proof of ancient North American Jews, or just a hoax?

Santa Caterina del Sasso

Discover Santa Caterina del Sasso in Leggiuno, Italy: This monastery built into a cliff hides a perfectly preserved hermit in a glass coffin.

Bahia Palace

Discover Bahia Palace in Marrakesh, Morocco: This vast masterpiece of Moroccan architecture spreads across 20 acres.

Saltwood Castle

Discover Saltwood Castle in Kent, England: This Norman castle has been the scene of assassination plots, religious persecution, and Nazi conspiracies throughout its long history.

La Maison d’Adam (Adam’s House)

Discover La Maison d'Adam (Adam's House) in Angers, France: A medieval house adorned with enigmatic carvings, including one of a man displaying his masculine attributes.

Jardin Majorelle

Discover Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh, Morocco: It took 40 years to build this Eden-like garden in Marrakech, later restored by Yves Saint-Laurent.

Stabroek Market

Discover Stabroek Market in Georgetown, Guyana: The largest market in Guyana, designed and built by the Edge Moor Iron Company of Delaware.

Church of Guayacán

Discover Church of Guayacán in Coquimbo, Chile: A charmingly unusual prefabricated metal church designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.

Old Slater Mill

Discover Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island: The place where Samuel "Slater the Traitor" brought the Industrial Revolution to America.

Waterloo Pottery Kiln

Discover Waterloo Pottery Kiln in Swinton, England: The remains of a historic kiln once used to produce the famous Rockingham porcelain.

1763 Monument

Discover 1763 Monument in Georgetown, Guyana: A monument to Cuffy, a rebellious enslaved person who became a national hero in Guyana.

The Quiraing

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

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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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