The TimeSpots in Athens
Each TimeSpot is a real place in Athens where you can stand and see the past restored in full, 360 degrees around you. Travel to a spot to unlock it, then look around the scene at your own pace. The map shows every Athens TimeSpot, and new ones are added as the city grows.
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The Acropolis.
See the Parthenon and the Erechtheion complete and painted at the height of Athens's golden age, and again as the same rock changed through Roman and Ottoman times. -
The Propylaea.
The monumental marble gateway to the Acropolis, rebuilt as it once greeted everyone who entered. -
Hadrian's Library.
Stand in the vast courtyard of the city's grandest library, its hundred columns and long reflecting pool restored. -
The Tetraconch. (Coming soon)
See the early Christian church raised in the centre of the ruins of Hadrian's Library. -
The Temple of Olympian Zeus. (Coming soon)
The colossal Olympieion that took centuries to finish, restored to its full scale. -
The Theatre of Dionysos. (Coming soon)
The birthplace of Western theatre, on the southern slope of the Acropolis. -
The Herodeion. (Coming soon)
The grand Roman odeon on the south slope, still a stage for performances today. -
The Roman Forum. (Coming soon)
The marketplace at the heart of Roman Athens. -
The Ancient Agora. (Coming soon)
Witness the centre of civic life through the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman ages, each leaving its own buildings behind. -
The Pnyx. (Coming soon)
The hillside where the first democratic assemblies met in classical times. -
The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. (Coming soon)
The elegant little monument raised to celebrate a winning festival chorus. -
The City Gates. (Coming soon)
The gateways in the ancient walls, where travellers first entered Athens.
How to use TimeLens
Step 1: Travel to a TimeSpot
Make your way to one of the historic locations shown on the map. Once you arrive, it automatically unlocks the TimeSpot for you.
Step 2: Look around
Hold up your phone and take in the scene in every direction. A 360-degrees historic reconstruction of the city full of life.
Step 3: Collect rewards
For each location you discover, you receive a badge and some TimeCoins as a reward. Discovering combinations of TimeSpots even gives you special awards.
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Want to help us create more of these reconstructions?
Every reconstruction takes months of research and craft. A small amount each month helps us build more of them, and brings you along for the journey, with early previews, behind the scenes insights, and a say in which places we bring back next. You can even have your name featured in the app, or appear as a figure in a future scene.
Based on historic research
The experts behind our Athens reconstructions
Every Athens TimeSpot is created in collaboration with specialists in the city's history and architecture, so each scene rests on solid research rather than guesswork. We are grateful to Professor Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos for his expert guidance on ancient Athens, and to Dimitris Tsalkanis for the architectural reconstructions that bring each site back to life.
Experience the past where it once happened
The story behind our reconstructions
Most of ancient Athens is gone. A few standing columns, worn marble, foundations lost in the grass. Standing among the ruins today, it takes real imagination to picture the city that once filled this place.
TimeLens closes that gap. Working from careful historical research, we rebuild Athens exactly as it stood and set it back where it belongs. Stand at a site, raise your phone, and see the temples whole again, painted and alive, the squares full of people, the city restored in every direction around you.
What makes Athens special is its depth in time. From a single viewpoint on the Acropolis you can see the same place across three different eras, Classical, Roman and Ottoman, and witness how the city changed across more than two thousand years.
