An invisible time traveller
Walk through the great cities of the past
Spin the globe, pick a city, and step into it as it was, 800 to 4,500 years ago.
Click a city on the globe, or pick one here, to fly there.
Earth: NASA's Blue Marble. Drag the globe to spin it.
Cities you can walk
Step into a city as it was, and walk its streets in 3D, like a video game with nothing to win. Temples stand new and painted, and people go about their day around you, right in your browser.
1200 AD · 800 years ago
Angkor
Lotus towers above a broad moat, stone faces at Bayon, naga-lined causeways and wooden homes beneath the palms.
Walk there →
450 BC · 2,500 years ago
Persepolis
A royal terrace of towering columns, double-bull capitals, guarded gateways and relief-covered stairways beneath the Persian hills.
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2500 BC · 4,500 years ago
Mohenjo-daro
The Great Bath on a raised mound, a grid of brick neighbourhoods, open courtyards, circular wells and carefully built drains.
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575 BC · 2,600 years ago
Babylon
Blue glazed gates, lions along the Processional Way, and a great stepped tower above the brick city beside the Euphrates.
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100 AD · 1,900 years ago
Petra
Follow a winding sandstone gorge to the Treasury, then explore the carved tombs, theatre and temples of the Nabataean city.
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1250 BC · 3,300 years ago
Thebes
Painted temple columns, colossal gateways and obelisks beside the Nile, in the time of Ramesses II.
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432 BC · 2,450 years ago
Athens
The newly finished Parthenon on the Acropolis, the agora below, and Athenians going about their day.
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35 BC · 2,050 years ago
Alexandria
The great lighthouse of Pharos, a harbour full of ships, and the colonnaded Canopic Way, in Cleopatra's time.
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125 AD · 1,900 years ago
Rome
The Colosseum, the Forum and the newly built Pantheon, in the reign of Emperor Hadrian.
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750 AD · 1,275 years ago
Chang'an
The Tang capital at its height: its great avenue and gate, walled wards, the East Market and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.
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1000 AD · 1,000 years ago
Chichen Itza
The pyramid of Kukulcán, the Great Ball Court and the Temple of the Warriors, painted and busy, with the forest all around.
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1010 AD · 1,000 years ago
Thanjavur
The great Chola temple the year it was finished, its granite tower 66 m tall, with the town, the tank and the rice fields around it.
Walk there →
How it works
Spin the globe and click a city, and the globe flies you there. Press Enter, then Start walking. Walk with W AS D or the arrow keys, look around with the mouse, run with Shift and jump with Space. Climb temple steps, cross the squares and wander the streets.
Look at someone and a line about them appears: who they were and how they lived. Press Esc to pause or travel to another city.
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. There's nothing to buy, no account and nothing to install: it runs in your browser.
Does it work on phones?
The globe does. Walking through a city needs a keyboard and a mouse, so it needs a laptop or desktop computer.
Is there anything to win?
No. It's a walk, not a game. There's no score and nothing can hurt you: you're an invisible time traveller.
How accurate is it?
These are simplified interpretations of historical cities. Landmark sizes and layouts draw on surviving remains, but distances are often shortened and missing details are imagined. Each city's page explains its main approximations. People and their clothing are stylized.
Which cities are coming?
More cities and civilizations will join the globe over time.