Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Tula Giants

Discover Tula Giants in Tula, Mexico: These enigmatic columns tower over the ruins of an ancient Toltec city.

Marine Air Terminal Ruins

Discover Marine Air Terminal Ruins in Southampton, England: The rusting relics of Southampton's former luxurious flying boat industry.

Uniastate Bears

Discover Uniastate Bears in Bears, Netherlands: This steel frame is a skeletal mirage of a lost 16th-century stone building.

Roslyn Cemetery

Discover Roslyn Cemetery in Roslyn, Washington: Its 27 graveyards represent the many nationalities and ethnic groups that voyaged to this wilderness in the late 19th century.

Cherry Point Farm and Market Lavender Labyrinth

Discover Cherry Point Farm and Market Lavender Labyrinth in Shelby, Michigan: West Michigan’s Cherry Point Farm and Market boasts a lavender labyrinth so large it’s visible on Google Earth.

Liebian International Building

Discover Liebian International Building in Guiyang, China: On special occasions, one of the world's tallest artificial waterfalls gushes down the side of this Chinese skyscraper.

Serpents of the Great Temple

Discover Serpents of the Great Temple in Mexico City, Mexico: These spectacular, symbolic serpents lie within the shadow of the Great Temple.

Hillside Cemetery

Discover Hillside Cemetery in North Adams, Massachusetts: This sprawling 18th-century cemetery features unique and beautiful gravestones, including one shaped like a tree.

Trafalgar Square Imperial Measurements

Discover Trafalgar Square Imperial Measurements in London, England: These official units of measurement—including chains and perches—lie hidden beneath tourists' feet in a popular London hub.

Illeta dels Banyets

Discover Illeta dels Banyets in El Campello, Spain: The legendary bathing site of a Moorish queen is actually part of a Roman fish farm.

Kouros of Apollonas

Discover Kouros of Apollonas in Naxos, Greece: This ancient statue of Dionysus lies unfinished and abandoned in one of Greece's oldest quarries.

Fort Jesus

Discover Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Kenya: This colonial fort is an intriguing example of Renaissance military architecture.

Gwrych Castle

Discover Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Wales: After years of slow decline, a derelict Gothic castle is now being restored to life.

Jarmers Tower

Discover Jarmers Tower in Copenhagen, Denmark: The only surviving piece of Copenhagen's 16th-century defensive wall.

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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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