Archives: Atlas Obscuras

‘My Dear Mother’ Clock

Discover 'My Dear Mother' Clock in Devon, England: Instead of numerals, the unusual clock face spells out a memorial to a lost loved one.

Hagia Sophia Wishing Column

Discover Hagia Sophia Wishing Column in Istanbul, Turkey: Legend says if you stick your thumb in the hole and it gets wet your wish will be granted.

Barnsdall Main Street Oil Well

Discover Barnsdall Main Street Oil Well in Barnsdall, Oklahoma: A tiny but mighty little pumper sits in the middle of the street, waiting for the next big oil strike.

Dulles Airport Mobile Lounges

Discover Dulles Airport Mobile Lounges in Sterling, Virginia: These unusual rooms on wheels are holdovers from the 1960s.

Fallbrook Pioneer Odd Fellows Cemetery

Discover Fallbrook Pioneer Odd Fellows Cemetery in Fallbrook, California: Famous and forgotten figures lie beneath the faded headstones and decaying planks of wood.

Wheatland

Discover Wheatland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The home of possibly the least-loved U.S. president stands as a sort of unpopular Monticello.

Boomer

Discover Boomer in New Hope, Pennsylvania: This strange, big-tailed beast became a Pennsylvania town's unofficial mascot.

Battambang Bat Cave

Discover Battambang Bat Cave in Banan, Cambodia: Take a hidden path to the mouth of the cave to watch millions of bats swarm at sunset.

Pino Suárez Linear Garden

Discover Pino Suárez Linear Garden in Metepec, Mexico: This sculpture garden is a serene oasis wedged in the middle of a busy highway.

Hunot Gorge

Discover Hunot Gorge in Şuşa, Azerbaijan: A scenic canyon with thick forests and historic ruins.

Peden’s Cave

Discover Peden's Cave in Failford, Scotland: A historic cave in Scotland once served as a hiding place for a famous Covenanter.

Haukadalur Geothermal Field

Discover Haukadalur Geothermal Field in Iceland: This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.

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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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