Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Moravian Pottery & Tile Works Museum

Discover Moravian Pottery & Tile Works Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania: A pride of the state, this working museum crafts pottery mosaics in the style of Pennsylvania's earliest European settlers.

Whispering Arch at Union Station

Discover Whispering Arch at Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri: Speak to a companion on the other side of the room loud and clear through this architectural anomaly.

Curbside Museum

Discover Curbside Museum in Canmore, Alberta: A small and quirky museum hidden inside a fence.

Kande Vihara

Discover Kande Vihara in Beruwala, Sri Lanka: This amazing mountain temple is topped by one of the tallest sitting Buddha statues in the world.

Museum of Odd

Discover Museum of Odd in Lawrence, Kansas: The quirky collection includes treasures like Elvis' underwear, Bob Barker's toothbrush, and hundreds of sock monkeys.

Lenin’s Hut

Discover Lenin's Hut in Saint Petersburg, Russia: A replica of the straw hut where Vladimir Lenin lived in hiding, disguised as a hay farmer, in 1917.

Washington Mini Monument

Discover Washington Mini Monument in Washington, D.C.: There's a 12-foot-tall replica of the Washington Monument hidden under a manhole nearby.

Scala Cinema

Discover Scala Cinema in Ilkeston, England: This 1913 single-screen cinema is a charming survivor in the age of the multiplex.

Arco de Santa María

Discover Arco de Santa María in Burgos, Spain: The most elaborate of 12 medieval arched doorways to the old city of Burgos.

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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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