Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles

Discover The Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California: Hidden above a drug store on a nondescript corner of Lincoln Heights is a private clubhouse for intrepid explorers.

The Runner

This sharp sculpture is made of thousands of pieces of jagged glass.

The Cow and the Bull

Discover The Cow and the Bull in Bahamas: These two giant boulders mysteriously perched on a 60-foot cliff may have been slung up there by a raging tsunami.

Marx and Engels Forum

Discover Marx and Engels Forum in Berlin, Germany: One of downtown Berlin's last reminders of its Communist past.

Slemish Mountain

Discover Slemish Mountain in Ballymena, Northern Ireland: A brisk climb up this solitary peak leads to the origin story of a towering figure in Irish history.

Lucas Theatre

Discover Lucas Theatre in Savannah, Georgia: The first public building in Savannah to offer air conditioning was a luxurious cinema that still operates today.

AlbaNova Telescope

Discover AlbaNova Telescope in Stockholm, Sweden: Sweden's largest optical telescope sits on a rooftop in Stockholm.

Conserveira de Lisboa

Discover Conserveira de Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal: The best place in the world to buy canned fish.

Brough of Birsay

Discover Brough of Birsay in Orkney, Scotland: This tiny island featuring 9th-century Viking ruins is only accessible at low tide.

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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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