Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Maine State Prison Showroom

Discover Maine State Prison Showroom in Thomaston, Maine: Trinkets and toys lovingly handmade by maximum security prisoners.

The White Spring of Glastonbury

Discover The White Spring in Glastonbury, England: A dark Victorian well house now plays host to mystical waters and pagan shrines.

Mystic Falls Park

Discover Mystic Falls Park in Las Vegas, Nevada: This vintage animatronics show is the Vegas version of a walk through the woods.

Museum of Energy

Discover Museum of Energy in Istanbul, Turkey: This shuttered power plant is now Turkey's first industrial archaeology museum.

Fort Ouiatenon

Discover Fort Ouiatenon in West Lafayette, Indiana: Historians and hobbyists head to this former French outpost for the annual Feast of the Hunters' Moon.

Kaluakauka (Doctor’s Pit)

Discover Kaluakauka (Doctor's Pit) in Laupahoehoe, Hawaii: The spot where the namesake of the Douglas fir met his mysterious end on a Hawaiian volcano.

B612 Foundation

Discover B612 Foundation in Mill Valley, California: Astronomers plan to launch a space telescope into orbit, to find out what exactly stands in the way of an asteroid hitting Earth.

Mister Ed’s Grave

Discover Mister Ed's Grave in Tahlequah, Oklahoma: The granite monument is engraved with the image of the talking horse's head coming through a barn door.

Cats Museum

Discover Cats Museum in Kotor, Montenegro: A curious little museum dedicated to the furry feline in the cat haven that is Old Town Kotor.

Super PACyderm

Discover Super PACyderm in Silver Spring, Maryland: An allegorical sculpture in Maryland wears the artist’s politics on its trunk.

Muslim Walls of Madrid

Discover Muslim Walls of Madrid in Madrid, Spain: Among the oldest structures in Madrid, these Moorish walls once guarded the medieval city of Mayrit.

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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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