Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Adamson House

Discover Adamson House in Malibu, California: Malibu's first beach home features an astonishing trove of ceramic tiles.

Miami City Cemetery

Discover Miami City Cemetery in Miami, Florida: Neglected resting place of some of the city's early luminaries—and a woman encased in concrete.

Steinberg Sculpture Garden

Discover Steinberg Sculpture Garden in Brooklyn, New York: A beautiful collection of architectural ornaments rescued from demolished New York City buildings.

Bures Dragon

Discover Bures Dragon in Suffolk, England: A hill carving of the legendary dragon that terrorized the village of Bures in the Middle Ages.

FDR’s Presidential Train

Discover Ferdinand Magellan Presidential Railcar in Miami, Florida: With nickel-steel armor and three-inch thick bullet resistant windows, FDR's train was a rolling fortress.

The Mysterious Shop

Iceland's only steampunk shop imagines a retro-futuristic world that never was.

City Hall Urinal

Discover City Hall Urinal in Amsterdam, Netherlands: A public urinal so pretty, it was declared a national monument.

The Lorenbahn

Discover The Lorenbahn in Nordstrand, Germany: A tiny island is connected to the mainland by a private railway that residents travel in their own personal wagons.

Japan’s Massive Deep Sea Aquarium

Discover Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Motobu, Japan: One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai Buddhist Hell

Discover Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai Hell Garden in Tambon Sa Kamphaeng Yai, Thailand: Gruesome statues of people reborn in Buddhist hell stand among the ruins of an 11th-century sanctuary.

Dante’s Dagger

Discover Dante's Dagger in Florence, Italy: A medieval weapon rumored to have been used by the brilliant poet himself.

Mahila Baag Jhalra Stepwell

Discover Mahila Baag Jhalra in Jodhpur, India: Hidden in the shadow of a rocky fortress is one concubine’s long-forgotten legacy.

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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