Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

Discover Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing, China: The embalmed remains of the communist leader lie within a custom crystal coffin.

Shaky Bridge

Discover Shaky Bridge in Trenton, New Jersey: This tiny structure was built by the creator of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Battle of Somosierra Memorial

Discover Battle of Somosierra Memorial in Somosierra, Spain: A tiny church remembers the Polish cavalrymen who charged their way into a Napoleonic victory.

The Drive-Thru Museum

Discover The Drive-Thru Museum in Seale, Alabama: A wealth of local folk art, antiques, and curios, without ever leaving your car.

Maritime Museum of Tasmania

Discover Maritime Museum of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia: Countless expeditions have left Tasmania to explore Antarctica, but this island state has an even deeper connection with the sea.

Last Lenin Museum In the World

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the museum underwent a complete renovation to show a more complete picture of Soviet rule.

Gothic Line Fortifications

Discover Gothic Line Fortifications in Borgo a Mozzano, Italy: The only substantial part of Nazi Germany's formidable defensive line through Northern Italy that survives today, largely intact.

Vilnil Museum of Illusions

Discover Vilnil Museum of Illusions in Vilnius, Lithuania: Things aren't quite what they seem at this mind-bending museum.

Villa Baviera

Discover Villa Baviera in Villa Baviera, Chile: Formerly a brutal Nazi colony, this Chilean village was remade as a (controversial) German-themed tourist trap.

Jebel Barkal

Discover Jebel Barkal in Marawi, Sudan: Crumbling pyramids and temple ruins stand within the shadow of this sacred butte.

Muriwai Gannet Colony

Discover Muriwai Gannet Colony in Muriwai, New Zealand: New Zealand's west coast is one of the best places in the world to view these large seabirds.

Neversink Pit

Discover Neversink Pit in Fackler, Alabama: This natural wonder drops 16 stories straight down through rare flora and streaming waterfalls.

Peter Strauss Ranch

Discover Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura Hills, California: A strange mishmash of ruins and abandoned structures hint at the park's many lives.

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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