Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Fire Hydrant Jack

Discover Fire Hydrant Jack in Shelburne, Vermont: A giant toy jack made of numerous welded-together fire hydrants.

Old Dragon’s Head

Discover Old Dragon's Head in Qinhuangdao Shi, China: Where the Great Wall of China meets the sea.

‘The Hills Have Eyes’ Gas Station

Discover 'The Hills Have Eyes' Gas Station in Province de Ouarzazate, Morocco: An abandoned horror film set sits eerily along a highway through Hollywood's "door to the desert.".

The Lamp Museum in Bruges

Discover Lumina Domestica in Bruges, Belgium: Explore 400,000 years of humans' "battle against darkness" in this offbeat but thorough lamp museum.

McGill Rose Garden

Discover McGill Rose Garden in Charlotte, North Carolina: This scented city oasis was a labor of love.

Joyxee Island

Discover Joyxee Island in Isla Mujeres, Mexico: One man's fulfilled dream of living on an artificial island made of recycled plastic bottles.

Wayside Chapel

Discover Wayside Chapel in Monroe, Washington: The tiny church offers succor to travelers driving by, but only eight at a time.

Sunken Gardens

Discover Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, Florida: A luxuriant botanical garden below sea level.

Royal Pump Rooms

Discover Royal Pump Rooms in Royal Leamington Spa, England: Preserved baths in a Victorian-era spa town frequented by the most famous people of its day.

1950s All-Electric House in Kansas

Discover 1950s All-Electric House in Overland Park, Kansas: This retro-future model home is packed to the gills with electrical oddities.

Permafrost Tunnel

Discover Permafrost Tunnel in Fairbanks, Alaska: This frozen tunnel in central Alaska is both an engineering feat and a valuable climate classroom.

Foucault Pendulum of Chile

Discover Foucault Pendulum of Valdivia in Valdivia, Chile: A 63-foot-tall swinging ball hypnotizes passersby, and proves to any remaining doubters that the Earth is spinning.

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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

PP ToS