Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes of Alaska

Discover Great Kobuk Sand Dunes in Northwest Arctic, Alaska: Massive mounds of golden sand look like a desert landscape randomly plopped in an Arctic forest.

Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

Discover Tyrolean Folk Art Museum in Innsbruck, Austria: Devilish masks, handicrafts, and pieces of old buildings create a snapshot of life in a historic Alpine region.

Oso Creek Fairy Trail

Discover Oso Creek Fairy Trail in Mission Viejo, California: This beautiful ridge-top trail is dotted by tiny homes apparently built by a group of itinerant fairies.

Potomac Park Flood Levee

Discover Potomac Park Flood Levee in Washington, D.C.: This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.

Poly Canyon – Experimental Structures Lab

Discover Poly Canyon – Experimental Structures Lab in San Luis Obispo, California: A deserted hodgepodge of experimental structures designed by nearby university students.

Cain’s Ballroom

Discover Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma: Sid Vicious famously punched a hole in the wall of this iconic music venue.

Painted Dunes

Discover Painted Dunes in Old Station, California: Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

The ‘Valley of Death’

Discover The 'Valley of Death' in Sevastopol, Crimea: This vineyard was the site of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade.

The Cannonball House

Discover The Cannonball House in Lewes, Delaware: The historic home still shows the scars from a little run-in with the British in 1813.

Nataraj Statue (The CERN Shiva)

Discover Nataraj Statue (The CERN Shiva) in Meyrin, Switzerland: This statue of a Hindu cosmic dancer at CERN is a metaphor for modern physics.

Broken Glass Villa

Discover Broken Glass Villa in Passau, Germany: Shimmering sea-colored mosaics and Jesus statues cover this opulent building.

Visovac Monastery

Discover Visovac Monastery in Brištane, Croatia: This picturesque medieval monastery guards a small trove of historic treasures.

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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

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