Archives: Atlas Obscuras

‘Crowning Woman’

Discover 'Crowning Woman' in Madison, Wisconsin: Prolific outsider artist Sid Boyum's concrete sculptures add whimsy to Madison's Schenk-Atwood neighborhood.

Hospicio Cabañas

Discover Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara, Mexico: One of the oldest hospitals in the Americas is now decorated in hallucinatory murals.

Kingshill Miners Memorial

Discover Kingshill Miners Memorial in Allanton, Scotland: A striking statue commemorates the men who worked underground in Kingshill and Allanton.

Barrett House

Discover Barrett House in Lorton, Virginia: A weathered, American Foursquare-style house originally built for lumber merchant William Wimsatt.

The Raft

Discover The Raft in Walvis Bay, Namibia: Hitch a boat ride to dine on stilts while watching wildlife.

Olfactory Art Keller

Discover Olfactory Art Keller in New York, New York: The only gallery in New York dedicated to olfactory art and the exploration of scent in art.

Spitalfields Charnel House

Discover Spitalfields Charnel House in London, England: Preserved behind glass, the ruins of a medieval building used to store human remains.

Ingleby Arncliffe Water Tower

Discover Ingleby Arncliffe Water Tower in Ingleby Arncliffe, England: A vintage fire engine is hidden inside this World War I-era water tower.

Balibó Fort

Discover Balibó Fort in Balibo, East Timor: A colonial-era fort with panoramic views across the East Timor-West Timor border, now home to a hotel.

Matianuck Natural Area Preserve

Discover Matianuck Natural Area Preserve in Bloomfield, Connecticut: Sand dunes from a glacial lake are preserved in this woodland park.

Site of the Rhoads Opera House Fire

Discover Site of the Rhoads Opera House Fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania: The site of a tragedy in 1908 that claimed the lives of 171 people and changed fire safety laws across the state.

Biddenden Maids

Discover Biddenden Maids in Biddenden, England: Eliza and Mary Chulkhurst were the first famous conjoined twins in England, but it's not clear when they were born.

Birthplace of Country Music Museum

Discover Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia: Country fans may flock to Nashville's music scene, but this Appalachian town is where the genre was born.

Polychrome Historic District

Discover Polychrome Historic District in Silver Spring, Maryland: These five Art Deco homes were meant to solve the "small house problem.".

Guess the Greyhound

Discover Guess the Greyhound in Frederick, Maryland: According to local history, this cast-iron canine was nearly melted down for bullets during the Civil War.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 260 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. 474 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. 499 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. 633 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. 135 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. 167 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). 252 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 148 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. 96 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. 166

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