Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Royal Train Station

Discover Royal Train Station in Brussels, Belgium: The Belgian royal family's private depot now stands abandoned and forgotten alongside the tracks.

Nishinoshima

Discover Nishinoshima in Ogasawara, Japan: This volcanic island in the Pacific just keeps growing and growing.

Thrust SSC and Thrust 2

Discover Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 in Coventry, England: One of these two land speed record-breaking vehicles went so fast it shattered the sound barrier.

Newstead Abbey

Discover Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, England: The ancestral home of beloved English poet Lord Byron has a bizarre history.

Le Museé du Jouet (Toy Museum)

Discover Le Museé du Jouet (Toy Museum) in Brussels, Belgium: A huge old mansion full of thousands of toys, each there to be used and played with.

Logan Airport 9/11 Memorial

Discover Logan Airport 9/11 Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts: This small glass cube is a peaceful out-of-the-way sanctuary at the busy airport.

Caddo Lake

Discover Caddo Lake in Karnack, Texas: Foragers once flocked to this big beautiful bayou to hunt for pearls.

Kopiec Wandy (Wanda Mound)

Discover Kopiec Wandy (Wanda Mound) in Krakow, Poland: An artificial hill and apparent calendric structure built in the Early Middle Ages immortalizes a legendary Polish princess.

Bovington Tank Range

Discover Bovington Tank Range in Dorset, England: A popular day's outing in Bovington consists of watching military tank driving practice.

Providence Athenaeum

Discover Providence Athenaeum in Providence, Rhode Island: A 19th century library favored by Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, known by locals as "the Ath.".

The Singapore

Discover The Singapore in Rutland, England: A locomotive that was captured as a prisoner of war is now recognized as a WWII memorial.

Myth of Tomorrow

Discover Myth of Tomorrow in Tokyo, Japan: After being lost for decades, this striking mural depicting the atomic bomb covers the wall of a busy Tokyo metro station.

World’s Fastest Pop Machine

Discover World's Fastest Pop Machine in Lerna, Illinois: The 40-year-old machine serves soda quicker than you can catch it for a mere 75 cents a pop.

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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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