Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Le Musee des Moulages

Discover Le Musee des Moulages in Paris, France: A unrivaled and rather horrifying collection of wax dermatological models.

Oradour

Discover Oradour in Oradour-sur-Glane, France: This French ghost town from World War II has been left as a memorial to German atrocities during World War II.

The Heart of Voltaire

Discover The Heart of Voltaire in Paris, France: In the best of all possible worlds, everyone will get a chance to see this statue in which Voltaire's heart is interred.

The Last Original Standard Metre

Discover The Last Original Standard Metre in Paris, France: An overlooked marble is the only surviving in-place 18th century example of the measurement that changed how we define distance.

Deyrolle Taxidermy

Discover Deyrolle Taxidermy in Paris, France: Paris' fabled purveyor of exotic taxidermy and natural history curios.

Lion of The Botanical Gardens

Discover Lion of The Botanical Gardens in Paris, France: A majestic lion statue guards this Parisian botanical garden, and feeds on an unsettling item.

La Promenade Plantée

Discover La Promenade Plantée in Paris, France: The first green space constructed on an elevated viaduct.

Danse de la Fontaine Emergente

Discover Danse de la Fontaine Emergente in Paris, France: This Parisian fountain is a little bit fantasy and a little bit nightclub.

Le Palais Idéal

Discover Le Palais Idéal in Hauterives, France: This whimsical castle of grottoes was the labor of love of a French postman, and one of the greatest achievements of outsider architecture.

Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals

Discover Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals in Paris, France: Known as the "Dodo Manège," this carousel features a herd of animals that have disappeared—or may be gone soon.

Musée Carnavalet

Discover Musée Carnavalet in Paris, France: A museum on the history of Paris, including a set of Napoleon's toiletries, Proust's room, and relics of the Revolution.

Musée Curie

Discover Musée Curie in Paris, France: The history of radiation is on safe display at the foot of a radiation science laboratory.

Parc Monceau

Discover Parc Monceau in Paris, France: The ruins of a Duke's bucolic dream, where camels once roamed alongside "Dutch" windmills and faux-Italian vineyards.

Montparnasse Cemetery

Discover Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, France: A Parisian cemetery where the elite and artistic are interred beneath an eccentric collection of tombs.

Musée de Cluny

Discover Musée de Cluny in Paris, France: Medieval museum built over Roman baths that features famous tapestries of a lady and a unicorn.

Musée de la Vie Romantique

Discover Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris, France: Down a cobblestone alleyway is a museum dedicated to Romanticism, with a secret garden.

Au Bonheur du Jour

Discover Au Bonheur du Jour in Paris, France: Behind the pink curtain, Au Bonheur du Jour, an art gallery of erotic archives.

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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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