Smithsonian Magazine: March 2009
Features
15 Must-See Endangered Cultural Sites
Some of the world's most precious historic and artistic sites can be visited today—but might be gone tomorrow
By The Smithsonian Staff
Fenestrelle Fortress, Italy
The Great Wall of the Alps
By T. A. Frail
Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
Holy War
By Abigail Tucker
Chan Chan, Peru
End of an Empire
By Bruce Hathaway
The Hill of Tara, Ireland
Where Kings Once Tread
By Amanda Bensen
The City of Hasankeyf, Turkey
A Sunken Treasure?
By Diane M. Bolz
Xumishan Grottoes, China
Under the Gaze of Buddha
By Lyn Garrity
Historic Route 66, U.S.A.
The Mother Road
By Megan Gambino
Endangered Site: Dampier Rock Complex, Australia
Written in Stone
By Laura Helmuth
Visoki Decani Monastery, Kosovo
A Medieval Refuge
By Kathleen Burke
Jaisalmer Fort, India
The Golden Stronghold
By Anika Gupta
Bingham's List
As Jews in France tried to flee the Nazi occupation, an American diplomat named Harry Bingham defied his own government to speed them to safety
By Peter Eisner
Out of Rembrandt's Shadow
Renowned in his day, Jan Lievens was later eclipsed by his friend and rival. A new exhibition establishes his reputation as an old master
By Matthew Gurewitsch
Getting Past the Troubles
A decade after Protestants and Catholics agreed on a peace treaty in Northern Ireland, both sides are adjusting to a hopeful new reality
By Joshua Hammer
Happy As Clams
In the Pacific Northwest, fishermen and others are cashing in on the growing yen for a funny-looking mollusk turned worldwide delicacy
By Craig Welch
Departments
Indelible Images
Monument Valley Girl
Cindy Sherman's self-portrait plays with our notions of an archetypal West
By Victoria Olsen
Digs
Devil's Half Acre
The excavation of a notorious jail recalls Richmond, Virginia's leading role in the slave trade
By Abigail Tucker
My Kind of Town
Steeped in Story
The lyrical novelist says the city is more than her hometown, it's her life
By Josephine Humphreys
Presence of Mind
Which Way Out?
The author discovers the surprising satisfactions of a home funeral
By Max Alexander
Wild Things
Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Mosquitoes, New Zealand flightless birds, pink lizards and more
By Amanda Bensen, Joseph Caputo, T.A. Frail, Jesse Rhodes and Abigail Tucker
The Object at Hand
Under the Radar
The five-pound RQ-14A takes high-tech reconnaissance to new heights
By Owen Edwards
The Last Page
Let a Thousand Bobbleheads Bloom
How China's "Great Helmsman" became the King of Kitsch
By Bill Brubaker
