Archives: Atlas Obscuras

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.

Atlanta Rainbow Crosswalks

Discover Atlanta Rainbow Crosswalks in Atlanta, Georgia: A colorful square marks the heart of the city's LGBTQ community.

Cuban-American Friendship Urn

Discover Cuban-American Friendship Urn in Washington, D.C.: The only National Monument ever to go missing for nearly 50 years then resurface in a dump.

The Old Place Restaurant

Discover The Old Place Restaurant in Agoura Hills, California: The beloved dining spot stands at the cross-section of Hollywood and the Old West.

Amazon Spheres

Discover Amazon Spheres in Seattle, Washington: The tech giant built three enormous glass orbs in Seattle so employees could work inside a rainforest greenhouse.

Largest Street Art Mural in the World

Discover Largest Street Art Mural in the World in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Eduardo Kobra’s breathtaking 32,300-square-foot graffiti wall took over Rio’s Olympic Boulevard.

Menu

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

PP ToS