Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Basilique Notre-Dame-des-Victoires

Discover Basilique Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Paris, France: A 400-year-old church covered floor to ceiling in ex-voto offerings from the faithful.

The Cartoon Wall at Overlook

Discover The Cartoon Wall at Overlook in New York, New York: In the back of a nondescript sports bar is a museum-worthy mural by legendary cartoonists.

Fet-Mats grav (Grave of Fet-Mats)

Discover Fet-Mats grav (Grave of Fet-Mats) in Falun, Sweden: His body was found mysteriously preserved in a Swedish mine over 40 years after his initial disappearance.

Cholera Mass Graves of Fink Cemetery

Discover Cholera Mass Graves of Fink Cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana: An unknown number of cholera victims are buried in two nondescript graves.

Calligraphy Brush Museum

This little town supplies Japan with most of its calligraphy brushes, still made by hand from animal fur.

The Abandoned São Domingo Mine

The deserted mining village now resembles a post-apocalyptic landscape of derelict buildings and blood-red pools of water.

Kumsusan Palace of the Sun

Discover Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, North Korea: A former palace transformed into a mausoleum for North Korea's supreme leaders.

Holy Mountain of Grabarka

Discover Holy Mountain of Grabarka in Grabarka, Poland: Crosses of all shapes, sizes and colors litter the mountain, the site of a huge yearly Orthodox pilgrimage.

Tulane’s Mardi Gras Bead Tree

Discover Tulane’s Mardi Gras Bead Tree in New Orleans, Louisiana: After the parade, students throw their beads on the tree hoping for good luck on exams.

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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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