Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Wild Horses of Shannon County

Discover Wild Horses of Shannon County in Eminence, Missouri: It's as if the herds walked straight out of a fairy tale into the Missouri wilds.

Dogtown Coffee

Discover Dogtown Coffee in Santa Monica, California: Grab a latte at the birthplace of modern American skateboarding.

War Museum Askifou

Discover War Museum Askifou in Askifou, Greece: This collection of artifacts represents one family's mission to record the horrors of World War II inflicted on their hometown.

Restaurante La Oruga

Discover Restaurante La Oruga in Altamira, Costa Rica: Dine inside a giant caterpillar at this community-run eatery.

War Eagle Mill

Discover War Eagle Mill in Rogers, Arkansas: This mill has survived a tumultuous past to still produce flour and cornmeal.

Positivist Temple of Porto Alegre

Discover Positivist Temple of Porto Alegre in Porto Alegre, Brazil: One of the few remaining temples of the Religion of Humanity.

Netherlands Carillon

Discover Netherlands Carillon in Arlington, Virginia: An oft-overlooked, magically musical monolith that stands majestically between Arlington Cemetery and the Iwo Jima Memorial.

Eldheimar Museum

Discover Eldheimar Museum in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland: This museum explores how a 1973 volcanic eruption forever changed this small Icelandic island.

Las Coloradas Bridge

Discover Las Coloradas Bridge in Las Coloradas, Mexico: This small, yet notable, cable-stayed bridge was built to support tourism to a series of internet-famous pink lakes.

George Bass Expedition Memorial

Discover George Bass Expedition Memorial in Bass, Australia: Dedicated to a surgeon who made several natural discoveries across Australia.

Breakey Monument

Discover Breakey Monument in Edward, Manitoba: Dedicated to the inventor of the paint roller.

Alphonse Mucha’s ‘Slav Epic’

Discover 'Slovanská epopej' ('Slav Epic') in Moravský Krumlov, Czechia: Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha spent 18 years creating these monumental paintings of Slavic history and mythology.

College of Engineering Sundial

Discover College of Engineering Sundial in Quezon City, Philippines: A series of increasingly larger sundials have grown with this school.

R.T.O. Relief

Discover R.T.O. Relief in Tokyo, Japan: A beautiful work of art designed to impress the Allied Forces.

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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

PP ToS