Travel site Expedia has teamed up with NeoMam and This is Render to show what seven ancient monuments looked like in their heyday through animation.
Through the animated GIFs, the creators have managed to restore missing parts of the relics, restoring facades and marble, and so erasing years of decay.
Among the seven selected is the Parthenon in the Greek capital. Created as animated online flip books, people can see today’s Parthenon transformed with its gorgeous frescoes that were around during Pericles’ time.
Also featured are Egypt’s Luxor Temple, the Nohoch Mul Pyramid and Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, the Temple of Jupiter and Area Sacra di Largo Argentina (Temple B) in Italy, and England’s Milecastle 39.
Aside from recreating significant aspects of history, the project also goes a long way in restoring interest in ancient history, with a particular appreciation of the work builders were able to create without the tools available today.
For instance in the case of the Parthenon, builders would have been required to be extremely precise, in some cases within a fraction of a millimetre.
“We’re not as good as they were,” Lena Lambrinou, an architect on a Parthenon restoration project told the Smithsonian.
See the animations here.