McGill Rose Garden

Discover McGill Rose Garden in Charlotte, North Carolina: This scented city oasis was a labor of love.

Joyxee Island

Discover Joyxee Island in Isla Mujeres, Mexico: One man's fulfilled dream of living on an artificial island made of recycled plastic bottles.

Wayside Chapel

Discover Wayside Chapel in Monroe, Washington: The tiny church offers succor to travelers driving by, but only eight at a time.

Sunken Gardens

Discover Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, Florida: A luxuriant botanical garden below sea level.

Royal Pump Rooms

Discover Royal Pump Rooms in Royal Leamington Spa, England: Preserved baths in a Victorian-era spa town frequented by the most famous people of its day.

1950s All-Electric House in Kansas

Discover 1950s All-Electric House in Overland Park, Kansas: This retro-future model home is packed to the gills with electrical oddities.

Cuban-American Friendship Urn

Discover Cuban-American Friendship Urn in Washington, D.C.: The only National Monument ever to go missing for nearly 50 years then resurface in a dump.

Largest Street Art Mural in the World

Discover Largest Street Art Mural in the World in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Eduardo Kobra’s breathtaking 32,300-square-foot graffiti wall took over Rio’s Olympic Boulevard.

Juliertheatre

Discover Juliertheatre in Riom-Parsonz, Switzerland: A tower-like theater in the Swiss Alps built to withstand the high winds and avalanches of the mountain pass.

Nepean Island

Discover Nepean Island in Nepean Island, Australia: This tiny uninhabited islet off the coast of Norfolk Island was formed by blowing sand from nearby dunes.

Grave of John Wilkes Booth

Discover Grave of John Wilkes Booth in Baltimore, Maryland: A blank headstone topped with a pile of pennies marks the final resting place of the infamous assassin.

Washuzan Highland

Discover Washuzan Highland in Kurashiki-shi, Japan: A dilapidated amusement park with a million-dollar view.

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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