Pecan Pie Vending Machine

Discover Pecan Pie Vending Machine in Cedar Creek, Texas: A 24-hour vending machine restocked daily with homemade full-sized pecan pies.

Exotic Feline Rescue Center

Discover Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, Indiana: Lions and tigers and leopards, servals, pumas, bobcats, lynxes, and ocelots… oh my!

Half Tower

Discover Half Tower in Lübeck, Germany: A tilted half-timbered house from 1672 is built into a salvaged segment of a medieval wall.

The National Gallery’s Art Materials Collection

Discover The National Gallery's Art Materials Collection in Washington, D.C.: The institution is sitting on a goldmine of 21,000 paints, varnishes, pigments, and primers preserved for posterity.

Museum of Plaster Figurines and Emigration

Discover Museum of Plaster Figurines and Emigration in Coreglia Antelminelli, Italy: The link between these two seemingly disparate themes is crucial to the history of this Tuscan hill town.

Lahti Ski Jump Tower

Discover Lahti Ski Jump Tower in Lahti, Finland: Every summer, an open-air swimming pool appears at the base of a Finnish city's beloved winter attraction.

Lazarim Carnival Celebrations

Discover Lazarim Carnival Celebrations in Lazarim, Portugal: One of the few places in Portugal where the Celtic ritual of wearing large wooden masks is still practiced.

Dress Worn by U.S. President Franklin Pierce

Discover Dress Worn by U.S. President Franklin Pierce in Concord, New Hampshire: The dress young Pierce wore prior to his breeching ceremony in the early 1800s is now on display for all to see.

The Church of Our Lady of Kazan

Discover The Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Yaropolets, Russia: An unusual abandoned church damaged in World War II sits in a small village outside Moscow.

San Francisco’s Hidden Slides

Discover Winfield Street Slides in San Francisco, California: A pair of slides and a tree-lined stair corridor have been an urban oasis for nearly 40 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