Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Fontainhas

Discover Fontainhas in Panaji, India: This colorful colonial neighborhood in Panjim is one of the only Latin Quarters in Asia.

Moonbeam UFO Monument

Discover Moonbeam UFO Monument in Moonbeam, Ontario: A flying saucer has landed for good in the middle of a tiny Canadian town.

Plymouth Pillars Park

Discover Plymouth Pillars Park in Seattle, Washington: The four tall pillars once marked the entrance of the historic Seattle church that fought for women's suffrage and civil rights.

Museo Faggiano

Toilet troubles led one man to dig up over 2,000 years worth of history in his home.

St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave

Discover St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave in Ashmore, Illinois: This grave in a ghost town cemetery marks the death of a witch on a day that never happened.

Door Knockers of Cartagena

Discover Door Knockers of Cartagena in Cartagena, Colombia: The colonial city's social history is reflected in its fanciful door knockers.

Cary Graphic Arts Collection

Discover Cary Graphic Arts Collection in Rochester, New York: Explore the evolution of printing technology, from cuneiform to Kindle.

Erickson Aircraft Collection

Discover Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon: An old World War II hangar holds 20 vintage aircraft and the rare opportunity to take a ride in a 1940s warbird.

Z2 Georg Thiele Shipwreck

Discover Z2 Georg Thiele Shipwreck in Narvik, Norway: The rusted hull of a WWII German destroyer pokes above the surface in a Norwegian fjord.

Un Chau Estate Flower Tunnel

Discover Un Chau Estate Flower Tunnel in Kowloon, Hong Kong: In Hong Kong, a fairytale flower tunnel is hidden within the gardens of a public housing complex.

The Castle Designed by a Ghost

This eccentric folly house was designed by Romanian thinker Bogdan-Petriceicu Hasdeu, with a helping hand from his deceased daughter's spirit.

Valley of the Names

Discover Valley of the Names in Winterhaven, California: Since World War II people have been decorating this stretch of the Yuma desert with signatures arranged out of rocks.

Motithang Takin Preserve

Discover Motithang Takin Preserve in Thimphu, Bhutan: Strange, gentle beasts resembling goat-cow hybrids roam within this patch of forest.

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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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