Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Steelworker Mural

Discover The Steelworker Mural in Sheffield, England: This magnificent mural was created with over 30,000 colored bricks.

The Rhenish Rod

Discover The Rhenish Rod in Leiden, Netherlands: An unassuming rod in the Netherlands was once the old standard unit of length for the entire Dutch empire.

Museum of Unnecessary Things

Discover Museum of Unnecessary Things in Kiev, Ukraine: A Kiev-based repository for all manners of discarded curiosities.

Volkssternwarte München

Discover Volkssternwarte München in Munich, Germany: A delightful but little-known public observatory and planetarium in Munich.

Kobayr Monastery

Discover Kobayr Monastery in Armenia: The ruins of a medieval monastery built on a perilous slope.

The Devil’s Sentry Box

Legend tells how a Spanish soldier disappeared from this isolated guard post without a trace.

Edinburgh Book Sculptures

Discover Edinburgh Book Sculptures in Edinburgh, Scotland: Anonymously sculpted and donated, these sculptures made from poetry books and pages are sprinkled around the city.

Magic Roundabout

Discover Magic Roundabout in Hertfordshire, England: A giant roundabout made up of six smaller roundabouts.

Goseck Circle

Discover Goseck Circle in Goseck, Germany: A Neolithic celestial calendar standing in a nondescript wheat field.

The Little Boat

Discover Het Bootje (The Little Boat) in Antwerp, Belgium: The patron of this extravagant Art Nouveau confection insisted that nothing less than a boat should project from its facade.

Tampa Theatre

Discover Tampa Theatre in Tampa, Florida: One of the last of the great 1920s movie palaces is a Floridian Greco-Spanish-Persian dreamscape.

Cuzamá Cenotes

Discover Cuzamá Cenotes in Mexico: Three sinkholes filled with warm, crystal-clear water reached by a horse-driven cart on an old train track through the jungle.

Queen Elizabeth’s Telephone Box

Discover Queen Elizabeth's Telephone Box in Garching bei München, Germany: This red London phone booth once stood in front of Buckingham Palace and was used by the queen.

Demerara Harbour Bridge

Discover Demerara Harbour Bridge in Georgetown, Guyana: The end appears to be nigh for the world's fourth-longest floating bridge.

Scottish Dark Sky Observatory

Discover Scottish Dark Sky Observatory in East Ayrshire, Scotland: This observatory within Europe's first dark sky park offers stunning views of the night sky.

Chesterfield Snail

Discover Chesterfield Snail in Chesterfield, England: This enormous spiral sculpture looks strangely out of place on the edge of a housing development.

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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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