Archives: Atlas Obscuras

The Zone of Death

Discover Yellowstone's Zone of Death in Island Park, Idaho: A legal loophole makes it possible to get away with murder within this 50-square-mile section of Yellowstone.

Leiðarendi Lava Tube

Discover Leiðarendi Lava Tube in Iceland: A winding, blood-red tunnel of hardened lava navigable by foot.

The Micro Wonder Museum

Discover Micro Wonder Museum in Budapest, Hungary: A collection of intricate sculptures so small they have to be seen through a microscope.

Greenbelt Historic District

Discover Greenbelt Historic District in Greenbelt, Maryland: A relic of FDR's brief foray into utopian urban planning.

The Confederate South Lives On in Brazil

Discover Confederate Colony in Brazil in Santa Bárbara D'Oeste, Brazil: The Confederacy is still celebrated by descendants of the thousands of Southerners that fled to São Paulo after the Civil War.

The Côn Đảo Prison in Vietnam

Discover Côn Đảo Prison in Côn Đảo, Vietnam: The wartime prison now features haunting sculpted reenactments of the atrocities that took place there.

The K-9 of the Korean War Veterans Memorial

Discover The K-9 of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.: Those with a sharp eye can find the hidden image of a German Shepherd on the memorial's Mural Wall.

Guy Rope Anchors for the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Discover Guy Rope Anchors for the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy: The only visible reminders of an elaborate engineering project that kept the tower from reaching the tipping point.

Floodwall Murals

Discover Floodwall Murals in Paducah, Kentucky: A collection of outdoor art by renowned muralist Robert Dafford depicts the history of a flooded city.

Wax Palms of Cocora Valley

Discover Wax Palms of Cocora Valley in Salento, Colombia: The world's tallest palm trees look like the whimsical kind of plant you'd find in a Dr. Seuss story.

Grave of Bobby Fischer

Discover Grave of Bobby Fischer in Iceland: The final resting place of the controversial chess champion.

Karl Marx Monument

Discover Karl Marx Monument in Karlovy Vary, Czechia: A larger-than-life statue of the German revolutionist stands proud in a small town where he never lived.

Slobodište Memorial Park

Discover Slobodište Memorial Park in Kruševac, Serbia: Curious carved stones and bird-like wings are a symbol of Serbian resilience and freedom on the site of a WWII massacre.

Ehrenberg Pioneer Cemetery

Discover Ehrenberg Pioneer Cemetery in Ehrenberg, Arizona: The stone-covered graves lie within the ruins of an Old West ghost town.

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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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