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Religion

Sister Wendy sought to make some of the world's most renowned artists accessible to her audience.

Remembering Sister Wendy Beckett, Beloved Nun Who Made Art Accessible

A surprising rise to fame catapulted her into television stardom, where she used her platform to share artistic masterpieces with the public

Cool Finds

The Goddess in the Margarine Tub Is Just One of 1,267 Treasures Found by the British Public in 2017

A new report reveals the pieces voluntarily recorded with the U.K.’s Portable Antiquities Scheme last year

'Statue of Unity" presently holds the record for world's tallest statue with a towering height of nearly 600 feet.

India Is Building the World’s Tallest Statue—Again

The monument of the Hindu god Ram is expected to stand 725 feet tall, and it plays a role in the country’s complex political landscape

The Vatican-endorsed game lets you "collect" Catholic saints.

There’s a Pokémon Go-Inspired App for Catholics

The Pope was reportedly impressed by the new game

Since 2002, a series of fragments with questionable provenance have flooded the antiquities market

Museum of the Bible Acknowledges Five of Its Dead Sea Scrolls Are Forgeries

Analysis suggests nearly one-third of the museum’s 16 scrolls are fakes, and study of the remaining fragments may yield similar results

Matthew Shepard will be interred at the Washington National Cathedral later this month

Twenty Years After His Brutal Murder, Matthew Shepard Will Be Buried at the Washington National Cathedral

Shepard has endured as a symbol of violent hate crimes against LGBTQ people

iPad art

Westminster Abbey’s Newest Window Was Designed by David Hockney—on an iPad

It was commissioned in celebration of Elizabeth II’s reign

A.D. 200-300. A burning river of fire and other flaming torments described in the Apocalypse of Paul shaped medieval Europe’s understanding of damnation—and our own.

What Does Hell Look Like?

A new book imagines how the underworld may appear with these illustrations

Pope Joan allegedly enjoyed a brief tenure as the Catholic Church's leader during the mid-800s

Why the Legend of Medieval Pope Joan Persists

The mythical female pope is back in the news as an academic uses medieval coins to look for physical evidence of her reign

The graffiti found on St. Sophia's walls includes sketches of cats, business announcements and invocations of medieval curses

Artificial Intelligence Can Now Decipher Medieval Graffiti (Cat Sketches and All)

Researchers sought to decipher the 11th-century graffiti adorning the walls of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kiev

An American flag sits atop a gravestone in the cemetery of Oak Mountain Baptist Church in Shelby County, Alabama.

Secrets of American History

The Wild Road Trip That Launched the Populist Conservative Movement

How a fiery preacher and a maverick Army general took the nation by storm

Pocket-Sized Bible Returns to Canterbury Cathedral After 500 Years

The volume was lost after Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the cathedral’s monastery

Some of the finds from the excavated building, which because of its size, decorations and location archaeologists speculate is a church.

An Early Christian Church May Have Been Found in Rome

The structure, inlaid with beautiful colored marble, was built around the time that Christianity began to gain widespread acceptance

Trending Today

Plans for the Emanuel Nine Memorial Unveiled

The monument to the nine black parishioners slain in Charleston in 2015 will include two wing-like benches that arc around a marble fountain

Over the course of the 2018 Folklife Festival, experienced artisans worked hand in hand with crochet novices to decorate a humble tree of life.

Armenia

Armenia’s “Tree of Life” Tradition Took Root Thousands of Years Ago, and Has Only Grown Since

The tree adorned in this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will continue to blossom overseas

A view of St. Ottilien monastery in 1945

When a Bavarian Monastery Provided a Home to Jewish Refugees

As World War II ended, Europe’s Jews began the process of rebuilding their lives and families. But few places were like St. Ottilien

Water throwing on Vardavar is a holiday unique to Armenia.

Armenia

The Point of Armenia’s Splashy Holiday Is Getting Wet

The ancient tradition of Vardavar attracts tourists to Armenia, but bring a change of clothes

Knights of the SMOTJ wear the red cross pattée, believed to have been first used by the Knights Templar in 1147.

Meet the Americans Following in the Footsteps of the Knights Templar

Disbanded 700 years ago, the most famous of the medieval Christian orders is undergoing a 21st century revival

The Armenian countryside on the road from Yerevan to Vanadzor.

Unfurling the Rich Tapestry of Armenian Culture

This year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival will offer a window on Armenian visions of home

Stephen Hawking's memorial stone in Westminster Abbey.

Trending Today

A Message From Stephen Hawking Is On Its Way to a Black Hole

After his ashes were interred at Westminster Abbey, a musical composition and “message of hope” were broadcast toward 1A 0620-00, the nearest black hole

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