Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Ouvrage La Ferté

Discover Ouvrage La Ferté in La Ferté-sur-Chiers, France: This striking fort on the Maginot Line looks just as it did after being destroyed in the Fall of France.

Embassy Gulf Service Center

Discover Embassy Gulf Service Center in Washington, D.C.: Behind an abandoned storefront is an example of pioneering 1930s gas station architecture.

Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia

Discover Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia in Kansas City, Missouri: Two hundred tons of pioneer artifacts were painstakingly recovered from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Missouri River.

The Sandcastle

Discover The Sandcastle in Withernsea, England: This two-towered gateway is all that remains of the unluckiest pier in the world.

Cliff Dale Manor Ruins

Discover Cliff Dale Manor Ruins in Alpine, New Jersey: Along the Palisades skyline are the ruins of a large mansion built in 1911 and demolished in the 1930s.

Slavín

Discover Slavín in Bratislava, Slovakia: Thousands of slain Soviet soldiers are buried within the shadow of this enormous obelisk.

Knocknakilla Stone Circle

Discover Knocknakilla Stone Circle in Cork, Ireland: Just another ancient, mysterious Irish stone circle.

Benin’s Temple Of Pythons

Discover The Temple of Pythons in Ouidah, Benin: Dozens of snakes are housed and worshipped within the walls of this Vodun temple.

Jumah Mosque

Discover Jumah Mosque in Tbilisi, Georgia: At this rare mosque in Tbilisi, Sunni and Shia Muslims pray side by side.

Ruins of Belle Isle

Discover Ruins of Belle Isle in Richmond, Virginia: A small Richmond island dotted with the remnants of hundreds of years of history.

The Tower of the Bones

Discover The Tower of the Bones in Madrid, Spain: Part of the medieval watchtower is displayed in an otherwise ordinary parking garage.

Natural Arch Bridge

Discover Natural Arch Bridge in Puentedey, Spain: A charming Spanish village sits atop this natural limestone overpass.

Sans Souci Island

Discover Sans Souci Island in Waterloo, Iowa: This remote island in Iowa was abandoned after being devastated by flood.

Wehrmacht Graffiti

Bored potato-guarding Nazis etched their thoughts onto a brick storage building in Copenhagen's Meatpacking District.

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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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