Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Panathenaic Stadium Passage

Discover Panathenaic Stadium Passage in Athens, Greece: Gladiators once walked this ancient, subterranean passage.

Dion Archaeological Park

Discover Dion Archaeological Park in Dion, Greece: This open air archeological site houses almost as much wildlife as it does classical religious artifacts.

Athens Olympic Sports Complex

Discover Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Marousi, Greece: What once sat in the world’s spotlight is today a largely disused ghost complex.

Lovokomeio Leper Colony

Discover Lovokomeio Leper Colony in Chios, Greece: An ambiguous ambience emanates from this centuries old leprosy quarantine.

The Gennadius Library

Discover The Gennadius Library in Athens, Greece: A sprawling collection of books and manuscripts about ancient Greece that would have put their famed libraries to shame.

Perithia at Corfu

Discover Perithia at Corfu in Corfu, Greece: The ghost town where the villagers refuse to leave.

Abandoned Bogomils Graveyard

Discover Abandoned Bogomils Graveyard in Thessaloniki, Greece: This field of half-buried stone crosses was the burial place of a sect of heretical gnostics.

Areopolis

Discover Areopolis in Laconia, Greece: This town named for the ancient God of War is home to fewer than a thousand people, but it's the birthplace of the Greek Revolution.

Hermitages of Karoulia

Discover Hermitages of Karoulia in Agion Oros, Greece: The hermits of Karoulia protect their asocial lifestyles by living on the vertical face of a treacherous precipice.

Phaistos Disc

Discover Phaistos Disc in Heraklion, Greece: This famous archeological mystery may be an ancient example of movable type.

Valley of the Butterflies

Discover Valley of the Butterflies in Egeo, Greece: Swarms of dainty flying insects swarm into the Petaloudes Valley to get busy.

Symi Harbour

Discover Symi Harbour in Livadia, Greece: This secret coastal village is studded with pastel-colored houses all piled on top of one another.

Little Metropolis Church

Discover Little Metropolis Church in Athens, Greece: This gem is often wrongly overshadowed by the larger, newer Metropolis church in Athens.

St. Theodora’s Chapel

Discover St. Theodora's Chapel in Arcadia, Greece: Seventeen oak trees sprout from the roof and walls of this tiny chapel without any visual evidence of roots.

Thessaloniki Brothel

Discover Thessaloniki Brothel in Thessaloniki, Greece: A two thousand year old brothel uncovered in Northern Greece.

Syntagma Square Metro Station

Discover Syntagma Square Metro Station in Athens, Greece: Where commuters walk through remnants of an ancient Greek necropolis.

Chios Rocket War

Discover Chios Rocket War in Chios, Greece: Two churches shoot bottle rockets at each others' bell towers in an unusual Easter celebration.

Olive Tree of Vouves

Discover Olive Tree of Vouves in Ano Vouves, Greece: The oldest olive tree in Greece has been bearing fruit for at least 2,000 years.

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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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