Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Thomas Edison’s Concrete Houses

Discover Thomas Edison's Concrete Houses in Montclair, New Jersey: Edison's cast-in-place concrete houses were a massive failure, but way ahead of their time.

Sod Cemetery

Discover Sod Cemetery in Tallahassee, Florida: An unusual college football tradition involves burying pieces of sod from competitors' turf, replete with tiny coffins and headstones.

The Lost Gateway

Discover The Lost Gateway in Sheffield, England: In the ancient Woolley Woods, an art project promises access to new worlds.

Historic Elevator at Potbelly

Discover Historic Elevator at Potbelly in Washington, D.C.: This sandwich shop has a century-old elevator behind a sheet of plexiglass.

History Colorado Center

Discover History Colorado Center in Denver, Colorado: This museum offers an actual time machine back through Colorado's past.

Livingstone Memorial

Discover Livingstone Memorial in Serenje, Zambia: An obelisk marks the spot where a British explorer's heart was buried before the rest of his body was transported to England.

Marian Coffin Gardens

Discover Marian Coffin Gardens in Wilmington, Delaware: Enchanting gardens surround a derelict mansion, all hidden in plain sight behind a stone wall.

Alice on Wednesday

Discover Alice on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan: Go through the looking glass in Tokyo's Wonderland-themed shop.

Fountain of 99 Spouts

Discover Fountain of 99 Spouts in L'Aquila, Italy: A medieval fountain lined with 99 unique stone faces whose origins and meaning remain unknown.

Belgrade Aviation Museum

Discover Belgrade Aviation Museum in Belgrade, Serbia: In the hinterlands of Serbia's capital, a giant reflective mushroom houses an aeronautical history of the former Yugoslav republic.

The Valley of Longevity

Discover Vilcabamba in Vilcabamba, Ecuador: In this pristine Ecuadorian hippie town, residents remain active well into their eighties and nineties.

St. Cataldus Catacombs

Discover St. Cataldus Catacombs in Ir-Rabat, Malta: Overshadowed by other, more famous Maltese catacombs, this ancient burial chamber has one of the best examples of a ritual agape table.

Swedenborgian Church

Discover Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco, California: The rustic cabin-like decor of this Arts and Crafts-style church reflects the love of nature central to its little-known theology.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 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. 474 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. 499 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. 633 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. 135 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. 167 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). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 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. 96 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. 166

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