Archives: Atlas Obscuras

A Real-Life Fairytale Castle in Romania

Discover Peleș Castle in Sinaia, Romania: This elaborately decorated, fairytale-like Romanian royal palace is one of the most striking castles in Europe.

Fairy Rock

Discover Fairy Rock in Whitehaven, England: Local legends say that fairies used to dance in the moonlight here and invite handsome young men into their grottoes.

Column of Death

Discover Column of Death in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Mexico: A mysterious pillar in an ancient burial chamber is said to predict how long you have to live.

Kater-Crafts Bookbinders

Discover Kater-Crafts Bookbinders in Pico Rivera, California: The small family-run business has kept alive the fading art of creating beautiful handmade book covers.

Pecan Legacy Park

Discover Pecan Legacy Park in Chesterfield, Missouri: After miraculously surviving a giant flood, the 19th-century nut tree and its offspring are protected with their own tiny park.

Puerto Maldonado Obelisco

Discover Puerto Maldonado Obelisco in Puerto Maldonado, Peru: This space-age looking obelisk rises over a city in the rainforest, meant to resemble the local castaña tree.

Boy and Frog Fountain

Discover Boy and Frog Fountain in Kansas City, Missouri: A beloved, quirky little fountain featuring a large frog spitting water at a naked boy.

Fetter Lane Moravian Burial Ground

Discover Fetter Lane Moravian Burial Ground in London, England: Some of the earliest leaders of the Moravian congregation are buried here.

The Hass Avocado Mother Tree

Discover The Hass Avocado Mother Tree in La Habra Heights, California: About 80% of all U.S. avocados are descendants of Rudolph Hass's glorious tree.

Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery

Discover Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery in Dunedin, New Zealand: Three rooms of bones, curios, and one artist's collection of natural artifacts create this intriguing museum.

Inside the Capitol Dome

Discover Inside the Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C.: The walls of the iconic dome are hollow and have a secret stairway.

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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