Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Paisley Park

Discover Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota: Find out what it sounds like when doves cry at Prince's recording studio estate turned museum.

Vormsi Cemetery

Discover Vormsi Cemetery in Hullo, Estonia: Hundreds of unusual wheel crosses poke above the earth in this small Estonian cemetery.

The Flower Clock

Discover Reloj de Flores (Flower Clock) in Viña del Mar, Chile: Built for the 1962 World Cup, this fully functioning botanical clock is still ticking.

Sevanavank

Discover Sevanavank in Sevan, Armenia: This ancient monastery complex was transformed from an island to a peninsula when the lake was partially drained.

Ukiyoe Small Museum

Discover Ukiyoe Small Museum in Kyoto, Japan: A tiny collection of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, open only when the owner feels like it.

Jardins del Príncep

Discover Jardins del Príncep in Tortosa, Spain: A botanical garden full of thought-provoking contemporary sculptures.

Rodadero Slides

Discover Rodadero Slides in Cusco, Peru: Did Inca children also slide down these smooth rocky slopes above Cusco?

Riot Grrrl Collection at NYU

Discover Riot Grrrl Collection at NYU in New York, New York: A collection of fanzines, recordings, and documents detailing the rise and influence of the feminist punk movement.

Flexible Flyer Museum

Discover Flexible Flyer Museum in Moorestown, New Jersey: An unusual assortment of steerable wooden sleds is on display in a library in New Jersey where they were first invented.

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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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