Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Gardens of Ninfa

Discover Gardens of Ninfa in Doganella di Ninfa, Italy: Ruins of a 10th century church tucked away deep in a botanical garden.

Temple of Valadier

Discover Temple of Valadier in Genga, Italy: This domed temple was built in a hidden cave mouth as a refuge for sinners seeking absolution.

Fontanelle Cemetery Caves

Discover Fontanelle Cemetery Caves in Naples, Italy: Skulls from the plague of 1656 and World War II bombings are united by a cult dedicated to caring for the ancient dead.

La Scarzuola

Discover La Scarzuola in Montegabbione (TR), Italy: This 16th-century monastery has been turned into a surrealist architecture compound.

Santuario Madonna della Corona

Discover Santuario Madonna della Corona in Ferrara di Monte Baldo, Italy: This centuries-old Italian chapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside.

Medici Hall of Maps

Discover Medici Hall of Maps (Sala delle Carte Geografiche) in Florence, Italy: Over 50 exquisite hand-painted Renaissance maps decorate a Medici storage room.

Campo de Fiori

Discover Campo de Fiori in Rome, Italy: This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.

Gabinetto Segreto

Discover Gabinetto Segreto in Naples, Italy: The once forbidden "secret cabinet" of erotic art from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Civita di Bagnoregio

Discover Civita di Bagnoregio in Civita, Italy: This quaint Italian town keeps losing ground as the sides of its plateau slowly erode.

The Village of Craco

Discover The Village of Craco in Province of Matera, Italy: An Italian hillside ghost town.

Cinque Terre

Discover Cinque Terre in Vernazza, Italy: Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

Plaster Citizens of Pompeii

Discover Plaster Citizens of Pompeii in Pompeii, Italy: The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

La Specola Anatomical Collection

Discover La Specola Anatomical Collection in Florence, Italy: The largest and most famous wax anatomical collection anywhere in the world.

Ai Pioppi Playground

Discover Ai Pioppi Playground in Nervesa della Battaglia, Italy: Hidden in an Italian forest is a completely homemade amusement park that has taken a lifetime to create.

L.O.V.E.

Discover L.O.V.E. in Milan, Italy: This giant middle finger statue sends an unambiguous message to Italy's bankers.

Casina delle Civette

Discover Casina delle Civette in Rome, Italy: A fairy tale castle in modern Rome.

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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

PP ToS