Archives: Atlas Obscuras

APEX Electronics

Discover APEX Electronics in Los Angeles, California: This stockpile of junked electronic and mechanical gadgets is a favorite among Hollywood prop masters.

Gettysburg Dime Museum

Discover Gettysburg Dime Museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: This recreation of a 19th-century dime museum is full of oddities.

Strada Sforii (Rope Street)

Discover Strada Sforii (Rope Street) in Brașov, Romania: This snug medieval lane is one of the narrowest streets in the world.

Cook & Book

Discover Cook & Book in Brussels, Belgium: A wonderfully kitsch bookstore the size of a supermarket.

Nine Ladies Stone Circle

Discover Nine Ladies Stone Circle in Stanton Lees, England: Legend says this little-known stone circle is formed from people petrified as punishment for dancing on the Sabbath.

Old Adam Scheidt Plant

Discover Old Adam Scheidt Plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: This forgotten building was one of the few Philadelphia-area breweries to survive Prohibition.

Leatherlips Monument

Discover Leatherlips Monument in Powell, Ohio: A monument to a Native American leader who was known for never breaking a promise and met his end after signing a deal with white settlers.

The Old Patent Model Museum

Discover The Old Patent Model Museum in Washington, D.C.: During the Industrial Revolution this “Temple of Invention” was full of intricate miniature machines and gadgets.

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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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