Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Newark Castle Remains

Discover The Newark Castle Remains in Newark-on-Trent, England: This English medieval castle is where King John died of dysentery.

The World’s Longest Echo

Discover Inchindown Oil Tanks in Highland, Scotland: This abandoned oil depot produces world's longest echo in a manmade structure.

Imperial Map Monument

Discover Imperial Map Monument in Harhorin, Mongolia: History, geography, and shamanism meet in this eye-catching monument to the greatness of three empires.

Kungens Rondell (King’s Carousel)

Discover Kungens Rondell (King's Carousel) in Norrköping, Sweden: This roundabout was renamed in honor of the Swedish king's royal fender-bender.

Lesia

Discover Lesia in Canora, Saskatchewan: The giantess welcomes travelers to a small Saskatchewan town with a traditional Slavic greeting of bread and salt.

Garden of Gethsemane

Discover Garden of Gethsemane in Tucson, Arizona: Religious statues built because of one man's bargain with God fill this peaceful sculpture garden.

Grant’s Canal

Discover Grant's Canal in Delta, Louisiana: The ill-fated plan to reroute the Mississippi so that Union ships could bypass Confederate fortifications on the river bend.

Red Mosque

Discover Jami Ul-Alfar Masjid (Red Mosque) in Colombo, Sri Lanka: This mesmerizing architectural wonder will take your breath away with its unusual color patterns.

Wonder House

Discover Wonder House in Bartow, Florida: Given just one more year to live, Conrad Schuck built his dream house in Bartow, Florida.

The Seely House

Discover The Seely House in Mamaroneck, New York: The "Skinny House" is made from scrap, salvage, and a neighbor’s kindness.

Washoe Theater

Discover Washoe Theater in Anaconda, Montana: This tiny movie theater was the last one in the U.S. constructed in the Nuevo Deco architectural style.

Hotel Edén

Discover Hotel Edén in La Falda, Argentina: This magnificent abandoned hotel has long been haunted by its Nazi past.

Gulliver Airship

Discover Gulliver Airship in Prague, Czechia: What looks like a crashed Zeppelin is actually a bright, airy reading room perched atop a modern museum.

Museo a Cielo Abierto

Discover Museo a Cielo Abierto in Santiago, Chile: The gorgeous murals at this open-air museum form the largest street art collective in Chile.

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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