Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Damen Silos

Discover Damen Silos in Chicago, Illinois: These abandoned grain silos and tunnels are an urban exploration dream.

Tonomine Highlands

Discover Tonomine Highlands in Kamikawa-chō, Japan: A thick blanket of beautiful pampas grass cloaks this unique Japanese landscape.

The Arm of St. Thomas Aquinas

Discover The Arm of St. Thomas Aquinas in Naples, Italy: The remains of the left arm of the levitating philosopher-saint are kept in a 13th-century Neapolitan basilica.

Lithuanian Ethnocosmology Museum

Discover Lithuanian Ethnocosmology Museum in Kulionys, Lithuania: The first museum dedicated to exploring humanity's cultural relationship with the celestial world.

Worden’s Ledges

Discover Worden's Ledges in Hinckley, Ohio: Faces carved into the cliffs create an otherworldly walking trail.

Anaesthesia Heritage Centre

Discover Anaesthesia Heritage Centre in London, England: This knockout museum lies in a sleepy corner of London.

Potato Chip Rock

Discover Potato Chip Rock in Ramona, California: This Pringle-shaped ledge makes for the perfect photo op.

Aztec Serpent Head Cornerstone

Discover Aztec Serpent Head Cornerstone in Mexico City, Mexico: On a cornerstone of the City Museum is the head of a monstrous serpent stolen from an Aztec pyramid 400 years ago.

D.W. Correll Museum

Discover D.W. Correll Museum in Catoosa, Oklahoma: It reportedly took three years to sort through all the objects in this eclectic lifelong collection.

The Wedding Cake House

Discover The Wedding Cake House in Kennebunk, Maine: The most photographed house in Maine looks good enough to eat.

Union 76 Gas Station

Discover Union 76 Gas Station in Beverly Hills, California: The dramatic upward-curving roof is one of the most iconic examples of Googie architecture that still stands today.

Abandoned Garcia Moreno Prison

Discover Garcia Moreno Prison Museum in Quito, Ecuador: An abandoned Ecuadorian prison that once held ex-presidents and notorious con artists is now a carceral museum.

Morrison Street Minigallery

Discover Morrison Street Minigallery in Portland, Oregon: A tiny art gallery in Sunnyside helps keep Portland weird.

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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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