With only a smartphone, tourists can now see what the Parthenon looked like back when it was used as a temple of Athena thousands of years ago – paint included. 

The Greek telecoms provider Cosmote, with the support of the country’s Culture Ministry, has created Chronos, an augmented reality (AR) application that superimposes a digital image onto several buildings within the Acropolis, including the Parthenon temple, the adjacent Roman theatre and parts of the Acropolis Museum.

The app is named after the Greek word for time and the leader of the mythological Titans. 

The images provide insights into how the site looked thousands of years ago. Visitors only have to point their phones to a part of the building to see the marble sculptures that used to be housed there before they were removed and placed on display at the British Museum in London.

In addition, the app also shows the colours featured in the statues and walls, and even the pool of water upon...