Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Bugarach

Discover Bugarach in Bugarach, France: Small French town or alien garage?

Club 47

Discover Club 47 in Bon-Encontre, France: An abandoned nightclub has become a vibrant work of art.

Heliodome

Discover Heliodome in Cosswiller, France: One man's stunning attempt at eco-friendly living.

Camp des Milles

Discover Camp des Milles in Aix-en-Provence, France: Now a memorial, this factory was once used as a concentration camp for artists by the Vichy government.

Tarasque

Discover Tarasque in Tarascon, France: Sculpture of a legendary French dragon.

Abbaye de Cluny (Cluny Abbey)

Discover Abbaye de Cluny (Cluny Abbey) in Cluny, France: One of the most powerful religious centers in the Middle Ages, dubbed the founder of Western monasticism.

Les Grottes Pétrifiantes

Discover Les Grottes Pétrifiantes in Savonnières, France: Limestone grottoes turns everyday objects into stone.

Le Corbusier’s Studio-Apartment

Discover Le Corbusier's Studio-Apartment in Boulogne-Billancourt, France: Experience architect Le Corbusier's modernist design for living in the home he designed for himself.

Mini-Paris

Discover Mini-Paris in Vaïssac, France: This miniature Paris, built out of trash, is one man's two decade labor of love.

Basilica of St. Pius X

Discover Basilica of St. Pius X in Lourdes, France: Beneath the city of Lourdes, France is a massive, concrete church.

Filitosa

Discover Filitosa in Sollacaro, France: This Corsican Neolithic site is full of pre-Roman megalithic structures that may or may not be penises.

The World’s Largest Solar Furance

Discover Odeillo Solar Furnace in Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, France: 10,000 mirrors concentrate the sun's rays to generate power for the world's largest solar furnrace.

Pont de Gau Ornithological Park

Discover Pont de Gau Ornithological Park in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France: Thousands of flamingos and other bird species flourish in these Camargue wetlands.

La Maison à Vaisselle Cassée

Discover La Maison à Vaisselle Cassée in Louviers, France: A former milk-delivery driver and his wife turn their home into a glimmering mosaic.

Auberge Ravoux

Discover Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, France: The room where Vincent van Gogh died.

Statue of Liberty, Colmar

Discover Statue of Liberty, Colmar in Colmar, France: A copy of the Statue of Liberty greets visitors to the birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi.

Fort Louvois

Discover Fort Louvois in Bourcefranc-le-Chapus, France: A castle-like sea fort from the 17th century is now a museum to oyster farming.

Treguennec Pebble Crusher

Discover Treguennec Pebble Crusher in Tréguennec, France: The haunting concrete remains of a Nazi pebble crusher can still be found in this small French commune.

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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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