Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Cervara di Roma

Discover Cervara di Roma in Cervara di Roma, Italy: The second-highest village in Lazio has attracted artists for 400 years and is now a spectacular open-air art gallery.

Kawazu Nanadaru Loop Bridge

Discover Kawazu Nanadaru Loop Bridge in Kawazu, Japan: An ingenious solution to a tricky engineering problem, this spiraling bridge takes drivers for a dizzying spin.

Butch Cassidy’s Cabin

Discover Butch Cassidy's Cabin in Cushamen, Argentina: With the Wild Bunch hunted almost to extinction and the law closing in on him, Butch Cassidy fled to this remote cabin in Argentina.

Bonnechere Caves

Discover Bonnechere Caves in Eganville, Ontario: One of Mother Nature’s geological gems, home to many prehistoric fossils.

Lake Placid Murals

Discover Lake Placid Murals in Lake Placid, Florida: Many of the murals covering this sleepy Florida town hide some sort of intentional error.

Genoa Cathedral

Discover Genoa Cathedral in Genoa, Italy: This cathedral hides a sculpted dog that determines your fate and an unexploded shell from World War II.

Flat Iron Sculpture

Discover Flat Iron Sculpture in Asheville, North Carolina: This giant iron playfully pays tribute to an early 20th-century architectural trend.

Tham Tu Pu

Discover Tham Tu Pu in Tambon Rim Kok, Thailand: This elegant carving of the Buddha guards a small Buddhist temple within a cave.

Roman Amphitheater of Lecce

Discover Roman Amphitheater of Lecce in Lecce, Italy: A long-buried ancient ruin unearthed right in the middle of the city.

Capitol Records Building Morse Code

Discover Capitol Records Building Morse Code in Los Angeles, California: The blinking light atop the iconic landmark has been sending secret messages for decades.

Catcliffe Glass Cone

Discover Catcliffe Glass Cone in Catcliffe, England: The oldest surviving glass furnace cone in Western Europe.

Winkel Towers of Zossen

Discover Winkel Towers of Zossen in Zossen, Germany: Several of these strange cone-shaped bunkers can still be seen around the former Nazi headquarters.

An Unusual Homage to Mozart

Discover Hommage to Mozart in Salzburg, Austria: This strange statue features a bust of the famous composer plopped atop a woman's body.

Callanish Stones

Discover Callanish Stones in Outer Hebrides, Scotland: The mysterious megaliths have enchanted and intrigued visitors for thousands of years.

The White Horse Tavern

Discover The White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island: The oldest still-operating tavern in the United States was once owned by a pirate.

Steins Pillar

Discover Steins Pillar in Prineville, Oregon: This great stone guardian of the forest is a relic from the land's volatile volcanic past.

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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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