Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Tomb of Hafez

Discover Tomb of Hafez in Shiraz, Iran: A dreamy mausoleum honors Persia's most famous poet.

Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum

Discover Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum in Wytheville, Virginia: The birthplace of Appalachia's only first lady, who some have dubbed the United States' "first female president.".

Dinosaur Footprints of Holyoke

Discover Dinosaur Footprints of Holyoke in Holyoke, Massachusetts: A careful eye can find hundreds of dinosaur tracks running along the Connecticut River.

Gravity Hill

Discover Gravity Hill in Prosser, Washington: The strange phenomenon causing gravity to "work backwards" on this hill has been blamed on the paranormal.

Goonhilly Earth Station

Discover Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall, England: Arthur, Merlin, and Guinevere are among the largest and oldest satellite dishes on the planet.

Wreck of the Steam Trawler Sheraton

Discover Wreck of the Steam Trawler Sheraton in Hunstanton, England: All that remains of the fishing-vessel-turned-warship is its weathered hull.

Assassin’s End

Discover Assassin's End in Port Royal, Virginia: The Virginia farm where John Wilkes Booth met his grisly end is now largely forgotten.

Kent County Lunatic Asylum

Discover Kent County Lunatic Asylum (Oakwood Hospital) in Maidstone, England: This former abandoned hospital, a complex of stunning 19th century buildings, once housed 2,000 psychiatric patients.

Arthur Ashe’s Tennis Racket

Discover Arthur Ashe's Tennis Racket in Newport, Rhode Island: The tennis legend used this racket while breaking the race barrier and becoming the first Black man to win the US Open.

Isaac Knight Memorial

Discover Isaac Knight Memorial in Evansville, Indiana: A tribute to a 13-year-old boy who was kidnapped in 1793 and escaped over two years later.

Kawazu Sakura Festival

Discover Kawazu Sakura Festival in Kawazu, Japan: Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

The House of Stones

Discover La Casa de las Piedritas in Envigado, Colombia: This exceptional home was a 32-year labor of love by a man determined to build his wife the most beautiful stone house in the world.

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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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