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Cultural Preservation

A general view shows the flooded St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace (L), the Lion of St. Mark winged bronze statue and the Venetian lagoon after an exceptional overnight "Alta Acqua" high tide water level, on November 13, 2019 in Venice.

Venice Declares State of Emergency as City Battles Worst Floods in 50 Years

The Italian city’s high-water mark reached 74 inches on Tuesday

Google's Art Camera scanned dozens of works of art in high resolution.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Teams Up With Google to Digitize Puerto Rico’s Art

The devastation of Hurricane Maria highlighted the importance of preserving the island’s cultural treasures

Light Detection and Ranging technology revealed architectural details and topographic data on Raleigh Island.

Using Drone-Mounted Lasers, Scientists Find Ancient Bead-Making, Island-Dwelling Community in Florida

Archaeologists used LiDAR to spot a large settlement, where residents produced an important pre-Columbian commodity

This aerial picture shows Shuri Castle after a fire ripped through the historic site in Naha, Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, on October 31

Fire Ravages Japanese Heritage Site Shuri Castle

The castle, first built more than 500 years ago, was seen as a symbol of the dynamic Ryukyu Kingdom

Spoiler alert: No, it wasn't from beer burps.

Hold On to Your Lederhosen: Oktoberfest Produces a Whole Lot of Methane Gas

Incomplete combustion from gas appliances is likely the major culprit

The tower had undergone a $7.9 million renovation.

New York’s Last Fire Watchtower Has Been Restored

Built in the 1850s, the structure was once part of the city’s fire-fighting network

The Smithsonian's American Food History Project seeks to understand the history of the U.S. through the multi-faceted lens of food.

Food, Glorious Food

How Food Brought Success to a Chef, a Cookbook Author and a Restaurateur

Historian Ashley Rose Young shares research from the Smithsonian’s 23-year-long ‘American Food History Project’

The Mustansiriya was built during the 13th century.

What the Restoration of Iraq’s Oldest University Says About the Nation’s Future

The Mustansiriya has withstood centuries of war, floods and architectural butchery, but can it survive its own restoration?

Peterhof Palace.

From Nazi Prisons to Cat Sanctuaries, Explore the Many Lives of These Russian Palaces

Follow the footsteps of doomed royals and revolutionaries through these architectural marvels

Speakers featured in the Celebrating Indigenous Languages project.

At-Risk Indigenous Languages Spotlighted on New Google Earth Platform

The new initiative features recordings of native languages from around the globe

A piece of locally painted art on display at the Marriott Port-au-Prince in Haiti.

Explore Port-au-Prince’s Triumphant Art Scene

Haiti’s capital city may still be recovering from the destructive earthquake that struck in 2010, but its art community is thriving

The original 3,000-year-old lion sculpture was destroyed during the razing of Baghdad's Mosul Museum

Lion of Mosul Statue Brought Back Through 3-D Printed Replica

The resurrected sculpture is featured in the Imperial War Museum’s ‘Culture Under Attack’ exhibition

A wooden canoe seat, carved with a spider's web, became noteworthy for being the very first of the 36,000 artifacts in NMAAHC’s collections.

Meet Juan García Salazar, the Man Who Championed Black Identity in Ecuador

Behind the very first artifact to enter the African American History Museum’s collections resides a story about recovering the Afro-Ecuadorian experience

Cool Finds

The Oldest Film of a Solar Eclipse Has Been Restored and Released Online

In 1900, magician, astronomer and filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne used a special adapter to film the astronomical event in North Carolina

Trending Today

Archaeologists, Tour Operators, Locals Raise Alarm Over International Airport at Machu Picchu

They are petitioning the government to reconsider the project, which is planned to be completed by 2023

Trending Today

One of the Biggest Locomotives of All Time Rides Again

After five years of restoration, 1.2 million pound Big Boy 4014 is visiting Utah to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike

Damage after an attempted assassination of Hitler at the Wolf's Lair.

Trending Today

The Wolf’s Lair Attempts Transition From Tourist Trap to Educational Site

The Polish government has taken over ownership of the one-time nerve center of the Third Reich, ridding the site of paintball and pottery classes

Finca Vigía photographed in March 1997.

New Conservation Center to Preserve Hemingway’s Legacy in Cuba

The facility is located at Finca Vigía, the property where Hemingway lived for more than two decades and where he wrote some of his most lauded books

Humans Are Destroying Chimpanzee Culture

A new study has found that chimps living in areas of high human impact are 88 percent less likely to engage in certain learned behaviors

A section of the 18,000-square-foot Cyclorama depicts a pivotal moment: Lt Edward Jones, on horseback, racing to 
reinforce the Federal line.

American South

Atlanta’s Famed Cyclorama Mural Will Tell the Truth About the Civil War Once Again

One of the war’s greatest battles was fought again and again on a spectacular canvas nearly 400 feet long. At last, the real history is being restored

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