Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Lois Lane

Discover Lois Lane in Worcester, Massachusetts: A comic book store got the road by its shop officially renamed after Superman's girlfriend.

Captain James Cook National Historic Site

Discover Captain James Cook National Historic Site in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador: A statue of the early navigator stands overlooking the land he first surveyed.

Skookumchuck Narrows

Discover Skookumchuck Narrows in Egmont, British Columbia: The water swaps direction twice a day, whipping into a frenzy of whirlpools and rapids.

Penitente Morada of Abiquiú

Discover Penitente Morada of Abiquiú in Abiquiu, New Mexico: The building stands within a quiet, postcard-perfect New Mexico village.

Remains of the Whitefriars Friary

Discover Remains of the Whitefriars Friary in Coventry, England: The historic site where Queen Elizabeth I once gave a searing speech.

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.

Menu

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