Nelson’s Courtyard

Discover Nelson's Courtyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia: A surreal pile of colorful junk fills a small yard in an otherwise gray neighborhood.

Ticket to the USSR

Discover Ticket to the USSR in Moscow, Russia: This small museum is basically a time capsule of daily life in the Soviet Union.

The Unmarked Graves of Paco Cemetery

Discover Paco Park Cemetery in Manila, Philippines: The cemetery was built for the Spanish colonial elite, but its most famous residents were all buried in unmarked graves.

Museum of Rescued Letters

Discover Buchstabenmuseum in Berlin, Germany: A collection of abandoned typographic signs from Berlin and beyond.

Hollywood’s Firefighting Museum

Discover Los Angeles Fire Department Museum in Los Angeles, California: Formerly Fire Station No. 27, the museum is a hidden gem in the heart of Hollywood.

Cave of Dogs

Discover Cave of Dogs in Naples, Italy: Suffocating dogs was a common spectacle in the fumes of this noxious cave.

The Hemlock Stone

Discover The Hemlock Stone in Stapleford, England: Left by the Devil, an ancient quarry or just plain old erosion, this enigmatic rock pillar rises 28 feet from the hillside.

The Guano Mummy

Discover Momia de Guano in Guano, Ecuador: A mummified Spanish monk found in the walls of an Ecuadorian church, alongside a mummified mouse.

Monet’s Pond

Discover Monet's Pond in Seki-shi, Japan: This pond is so stunning it looks like you've stepped into one of Monet's masterpieces.

Kentucky’s Glittering Mineral Museum

Discover Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum in Marion, Kentucky: Thousands of unique minerals, including some of the most impressive fluorite crystals in the world.

Radimlja Necropolis

Discover Radimlja Necropolis in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina: A field filled with carved medieval tombstones called stećak.

Palace of the Golden Orbs

Discover Palace of the Golden Orbs in Houston, Texas: An unrealized Taoist palace left abandoned in a Houston suburb.

Fort Worden Artillery Battery

Discover Fort Worden Artillery Battery in Port Townsend, Washington: An abandoned network of military bunkers and tunnels open for anyone willing to descend into the darkness.

The Births of the Full Moon

Discover The Births of the Full Moon in Lausanne, Switzerland: A constellation of golden cobblestones shows the names of local children born under a full moon.

Picnic Point Beach House

Discover Picnic Point Beach House in Madison, Wisconsin: This forgotten beach house built to look like a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece overlooks a hidden beach.

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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