videos + essays
![The Gwoździec synagogue: the lost art of painted wooden synagogues](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Museum_of_the_History_of_Polish_Jews_in_Warsaw_Main_exhibition_Gwozdziec_synagogue-570x350.jpg)
The Gwoździec synagogue: the lost art of painted wooden synagogues
A glimpse of the lost art of painted wooden synagogues popularized among Eastern European Jewish communities in the 17th and 18th centuries
![Bayt Farhi, a Jewish house in Damascus](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/BaytFarhiGrid-570x350.jpg)
Bayt Farhi, a Jewish house in Damascus
Bayt Farhi, a Sephardic palace in Ottoman Damascus, helps us to learn about the complex history of Damascus's Jewish quarter and ongoing challenges with contemporary restorations
![Unearthing New York’s history of slavery](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AfricanBurialGrid-570x350.jpg)
Unearthing New York’s history of slavery
The remains of thousands of enslaved New Yorkers lay below the streets, sidewalks, and towers of lower Manhattan
![Ceremonial belt (Kwakwaka’wakw)](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/belt-grid-570x350.jpg)
Ceremonial belt (Kwakwaka’wakw)
Learn about the complex history of a 19th-century Kwakwaka'wakw belt and its relationship to Kwakwaka'wakw cultural revitalization, World's Fairs, and photographic manipulation.
![The Renaissance Synagogues of Venice](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GhettoGrid-570x350.jpg)
The Renaissance Synagogues of Venice
The original Ghetto, on a small Venetian island, hides Renaissance era synagogues of startling beauty.
![Venice’s San Marco, a mosaic of spiritual treasure](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/VeniceMosaicGrid-570x350.jpg)
Venice’s San Marco, a mosaic of spiritual treasure
Acts of sacred theft, Venice as a mosaic of treasures from afar.
![Ancient Babylon: excavations, restorations and modern tourism](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/IRQ-Babylon-Nimah-Temple-int-courtyard-Cates-2009-570x350.jpg)
Ancient Babylon: excavations, restorations and modern tourism
Invasion, reconstruction, and trafficking all threaten this biblical site—but even today, Iraqis regularly visit.
![Seneca Village: the lost history of African Americans in New York](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/senecathumb-570x350.jpg)
Seneca Village: the lost history of African Americans in New York
The long forgotten residents of Seneca Village were evicted to make way for Central Park.
![Palmyra: the modern destruction of an ancient city](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/17821555400_dfa003ba33_o-570x350.jpg)
Palmyra: the modern destruction of an ancient city
Terrorists overran Palmyra twice despite international cries for protection, sowing irreversible destruction.
![Unearthing the Aztec past, the destruction of the Templo Mayor](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/templo-570x350.jpg)
Unearthing the Aztec past, the destruction of the Templo Mayor
The Spanish destroyed the main Aztec temple: an expression of spiritual and political conquest.
![Voyage to the moai of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/moaithumb-570x350.jpg)
Voyage to the moai of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Easter Island is world famous, but local people are only now reasserting control over their history.