Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Union Park

Discover Union Park in Dubuque, Iowa: The remains of a bustling turn-of-the-century park built to showcase the wonders of electricity.

Gold King Mine Ghost Town

Discover Gold King Mine Ghost Town in Jerome, Arizona: Once the product of an inexplicable gold strike, this ghost town is now home to one man and his love of classic machines.

Thomas Foster Memorial

Discover Thomas Foster Memorial in Uxbridge, Ontario: An arresting temple full of mosaics as colorful as the politician they memorialize.

Steins Unlimited

Discover Steins Unlimited in Pamplin, Virginia: One man's lifelong collection of 10,000 rare steins tells the story of beer drinking from 1350 to today.

The Devil’s Wall in Germany

Discover Teufelsmauer (The Devil's Wall) in Blankenburg (Harz), Germany: A strange rock formation with numerous legends trying to explain it.

Pilsen’s Ghost Church

Discover Zion Evangelical Lutheran 'Ghost Church' in Chicago, Illinois: One-of-a-kind preserved ruins of an abandoned 1880s church in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

Izena Island

Discover Izena Island in Izena-son, Japan: Ruins and statues dot the landscape of this tiny island rich with royal history.

Eros Bendato

Discover Eros Bendato in St. Louis, Missouri: A creepy sculpture of a decapitated head invites viewers to see St. Louis through its empty eyes.

The Blue Lake

Discover The Blue Lake in Gwynedd, Wales: A hidden tunnel leads to an abandoned slate quarry that's now a secret swimming spot guarded by cliffs.

Dick Whittington’s Cat

Discover Dick Whittington’s Cat in London, England: A monument to the thrice mayor of London who according to lore made his fortune by selling his rat-chasing cat.

Sabir’s Chaikhana

Discover Sabir’s Chaikhana in Tbilisi, Georgia: The last standing example of an ancient district's teatime tradition.

The Smoking Fence

Discover The Smoking Fence in West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue students would lean over this iron fence to skirt campus rules against smoking and courting.

Lookout

Discover Lookout in Workington, England: This unique sculptural clock transforms into a periscope every hour.

Shipwrecked Doritos

Discover Shipwrecked Doritos in Hatteras, North Carolina: The time thousands of bags of chips washed ashore in the Outer Banks is memorialized in a local museum.

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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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