Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Pensacola Graffiti Bridge

Discover Pensacola Graffiti Bridge in Pensacola, Florida: A local landmark with generations of spraypainted messages, and more being added each day.

Air Crash Angel

Discover Air Crash in Madrid, Spain: A whimsical brother of the nearby Fallen Angel statue takes the falling part quite literally.

La Rotonda

Discover La Rotonda in Rovigo, Italy: A rare example of an octagonal Catholic church.

Stamford’s Miniature Ghost Town

Discover Stamford's Miniature Ghost Town in Stamford, Connecticut: Forgotten under the construction of a new urban roadway is a small, abandoned part of town.

Homewood Cemetery

Discover Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: A quiet, gothic haven nestled between Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze neighborhoods.

Menokin

Discover Menokin in Warsaw, Virginia: The Virginia home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence is being preserved with a unique glass facade.

Panteón de Belen (Santa Paula Cemetery)

Discover Panteón de Belen (Santa Paula Cemetery) in Guadalajara, Mexico: This historic cemetery built for victims of the epidemics that swept Guadalajara is shrouded in macabre tales.

The Crocodile Rock

Discover Crocodile Rock in Millport, Scotland: A bizarre stone beast lurks on the beach of a popular tourist island.

Mbala Surrender Monument

Discover Mbala Surrender Monument in Mbala, Zambia: A memorial in the middle of a roundabout marks the spot where German forces formally surrendered, finally ending World War I in Africa.

Kelleher Rose Garden

Discover Kelleher Rose Garden in Boston, Massachusetts: One of the now-less-hidden floral gems of the "Emerald Necklace.".

Temple of Taffeh

Discover Temple of Taffeh in Leiden, Netherlands: An ancient Egyptian temple sits within a modern European museum.

Monk Bretton Priory

Discover Monk Bretton Priory in Barnsley, England: These medieval monastery ruins are surprisingly overlooked by most tourists.

Golden Bridge

Discover Golden Bridge in Hòa Phú, Vietnam: This spectacular bridge supported by two gigantic hands looks like something out of a fantasy universe.

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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