Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Jim Morrison Hotel Room

Discover Jim Morrison Hotel Room in West Hollywood, California: Room 32 of the Alta Cienega Motel has grown into a shrine to the Lizard King.

Pirou-Plage Ghost Village

Discover Pirou-Plage Ghost Village in Pirou, France: An abandoned beach resort in Normandy reclaimed by artists.

A Nude Barbie Beach

Discover Barbie Beach in Senoia, Georgia: This ever-changing arrangement of naked dolls even caught the attention of "The Walking Dead" crew.

Værnhytterne

Discover Værnhytterne in Nørre Nebel, Denmark: This quiet bird sanctuary on the Danish coast is home to something not usually found in a conservation area: hunters' cabins.

Guaranty Building

Discover Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York: A 19th-century architectural wonder designed by the "father of the skyscraper.".

Destroyer Park Golf

Discover Destroyer Park Golf in Akron, New York: A masked wrestling legend has opened the first U.S. course devoted to a meditative Japanese golf variant.

Two Princes Staircase

Discover Two Princes Staircase in London, England: Richard III supposedly disposed of his nephews' bodies here in an effort to seal his claim to the throne.

Oklahoma’s Pioneer Woman Statue

Discover Pioneer Woman Statue in Ponca City, Oklahoma: A larger-than-life monument to the overlooked women who braved Western expansion and broke down societal barriers.

Rothwell Bone Crypt

Discover Rothwell Bone Crypt in Rothwell, England: Under a church hides a forgotten 13th-century ossuary containing the remains of around 2,500 people.

Hutchison Hall Specimen Collection

Discover Hutchison Hall Specimen Collection in Rochester, New York: Antique skeletons and taxidermy creatures were found crammed in a university closet.

Ruins of Abbey of Saint-Evroul

Discover Ruins of Abbey of Saint-Evroul in Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, France: This 1,400-year-old abbey was once a powerhouse for music and intellectualism known across Normandy.

Mer Bleue Bog

Discover Mer Bleue Bog in Ottawa, Ontario: A boardwalk winds above this beautiful bog full of wildlife and a rare type of turtle.

The Mysterious Sajama Lines

Discover Sajama Lines in Sajama, Bolivia: A mysterious ancient network of thousands of perfectly straight lines stretching across miles of Bolivian desert.

Maqtha Art District

Discover Maqtha Art District in Hyderabad, India: A magical expanse of colorful street murals lies hidden within the quiet neighborhood.

7000 Oaks

23 trees each paired with a basalt stone line a street in Chelsea, continuing an urban project started by German Fluxus artist Joseph Beuys.

Menu

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