Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Catacombs of Milos

Discover Catacombs of Milos in Milos, Greece: An intricate network of underground tombs carved into volcanic rock.

Street of the Knights

Discover Street of the Knights in Rhodes, Greece: One of the best-preserved medieval streets in Europe.

Yeni Camii

Discover Yeni Camii in Thessaloniki, Greece: This architecturally eclectic early-20th century mosque was built as a place of worship for the Islamic followers of a Jewish messiah.

Epta Piges (Seven Springs)

Discover Epta Piges (Seven Springs) in Archaggelos, Greece: A dark, narrow tunnel that leads to a charming lake and waterfall.

Lion of Kea

Discover Lion of Kea in Kea Kithnos, Greece: This smily stone feline is meant to represent a mythical lion that almost destroyed the island of Kea.

Windmills of Lasithi Plateau

Discover Windmills of Lasithi Plateau in Lasithi, Greece: This little Greek plateau is home to thousands of rustic, white-sailed windmills.

Entomological Museum of Volos

Discover Entomological Museum of Volos in Volos, Greece: This little-known, 35,000-specimen collection in Greece is a lepidopterist's dream.

Vatheia

Discover Vatheia in Laconia, Greece: The historic tower houses of this nearly abandoned Greek town have been compared to the spikes on an iguana's back.

Petrified Forest of Lesbos

Discover Petrified Forest of Lesbos in Lesbos Prefecture, Greece: The rocky remains of an ancient Greek forest.

Panathenaic Stadium Passage

Discover Panathenaic Stadium Passage in Athens, Greece: Gladiators once walked this ancient, subterranean passage.

Dion Archaeological Park

Discover Dion Archaeological Park in Dion, Greece: This open air archeological site houses almost as much wildlife as it does classical religious artifacts.

Athens Olympic Sports Complex

Discover Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Marousi, Greece: What once sat in the world’s spotlight is today a largely disused ghost complex.

Lovokomeio Leper Colony

Discover Lovokomeio Leper Colony in Chios, Greece: An ambiguous ambience emanates from this centuries old leprosy quarantine.

The Gennadius Library

Discover The Gennadius Library in Athens, Greece: A sprawling collection of books and manuscripts about ancient Greece that would have put their famed libraries to shame.

Perithia at Corfu

Discover Perithia at Corfu in Corfu, Greece: The ghost town where the villagers refuse to leave.

Abandoned Bogomils Graveyard

Discover Abandoned Bogomils Graveyard in Thessaloniki, Greece: This field of half-buried stone crosses was the burial place of a sect of heretical gnostics.

Areopolis

Discover Areopolis in Laconia, Greece: This town named for the ancient God of War is home to fewer than a thousand people, but it's the birthplace of the Greek Revolution.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 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. 474 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. 499 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. 633 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. 135 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. 167 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). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 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. 96 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. 166

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