VIRTUAL TOURS, RECONSTRUCTIONS,
3-D RENDERINGS &
PANORAMAS of MAJOR MONUMENTS
in WESTERN ART

The vast majority of these sites feature panorama cameras, but others provide virtual reconstructions and fly-throughs; especially noteworthy are the various projects at the
CVR Lab
and the
Experiential Technologies Center (ETC)
at UCLA.

The links focus on European and Middle Eastern excavations and archaeological sites. American archeaological sites are not included, nor are sites which provide 2-D reconstructions exclusively.

This page was built in fall 2003 for the students of ARTH 105 (Art of the Western World I: Ancient to Medieval) at Coastal Carolina University as a supplement to lectures and readings. It is updated regularly.

If you have suggestions for other sites or if you notice that certain links are not working, please contact:
Dr. Arne R. Flaten
arflaten@coastal.edu
or see my webpage at Coastal Carolina University

Ashes2Art
Also see the project Ashes2Art at Coastal Carolina University, directed by Professors Arne Flaten and Paul Olsen, which digitally reconstructs ancient monuments. Stage one (fall 2005) focused on Renaissance Florence, and though it did not "reconstruct" a monument, it did allow us to address various pedagogical and technological issues. Our next course will reconstruct Ancient Delphi. All work is student generated.

Panoramas of the
Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery
at Coastal Carolina University

Our Own: Faculty Art Exhibition

Graduating Seniors Exhibition, fall 2004

Most of these links require Quicktime.

If you need to download this software, click below

Digital model of the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia at Delphi
by Greg Schultz, a senior at Coastal Carolina University

GENERAL

World Heritage site-incredible collection of high quality panoramas of endangered sites around the world

VRWay-over 4,000 panoramic views of 145 cities...and growing

Arounder.com-similar to VR Way, focusing on major cities

Panorama World-major cities

The Experiential Technologies Center (ETC) at UCLA-the most important location
in the United States for the digital reconstruction of ancient spaces

The Visualization Portal at UCLA-the emersive environment and lab at UCLA
Virtual Worlds in Archaeology Initiative-some interesting projects, but desperately in need of updates
A wide range of cities and sites at EuroVR

MESOPOTAMIA and THE NEAR EAST

Persepolis (Parsa), Iran-World Heritage site, high quality panoramas
Persepolis 3D-this is the only site included here that does NOT include either panoramas or rotatable 3d models, but the work is so good that it had to be included
Wide variety of panoramas in Turkey-Sail Turkey.com
Catal Huyuk-from the Science Museum of Minnesota
Troy-Metis; lots of small panoramas
Troy-Virtual Reconstructions

THE MIDDLE EAST

EGYPT

The World Heritage site-the best place for high quality QT panoramas and related projects

Old Kingdom-panoramas (PBS/NOVA)

Saqqara, Giza, Dendera, Karnak, etc.(egypt voyager)

Giza, Saqqara-World Heritage

New Kingdom-panoramas (PBS/NOVA)

Karnak virtual fly-through -lengthy but a little dark

Valley of the Kings, Seti I -World Heritage

Karnak -World Heritage

Karnak-through VirtualSweden

Various tours of Egypt -QTVR

Tomb of Senneferri -Cambridge, UK

The Theban Mapping Project -extensive interactive site
Virtual Egypt-A huge collection of reconstructions of various sites; scroll down for movies in various formats

ISRAEL

Jerusalem-QTVR from Iphotographics

Jerusalem-especially the Wailing Wall

The Wailing Wall-Panoramas.dk

Inside the Holy Sepulchre -z360

Via dolorosa (stations of the cross)-z360

Jerusalem, Westbank-CNN panoramas (needs an Ipix plugin)
Reconstruction of the Temple Mount-The Jerusalem Archaeological Park

AFGHANISTAN
Bamiyan and Minaret-e-Jam-World Heritage

GREECE

Greece index - comprehensive list; small panoramic shots; Metis
Greece-high quality QT panoramas; Hellas.net

Athens acropolis-large panoramas; Acropolis360.com

Ancient Spaces-various projects of various quality

Knossos-The British School at Athens

Mycenae-high quality QT panoramas; Hellas.net
Aphrodisias-panoramas at SailTurkey.com
Ephesus-panoramas of the theatre; Whitman College
The Acropolis at Athens-from the Institute for the Visualization of History (click on the Acropolis, then hit "video')

ROMAN EMPIRE

Evolution of the Roman Forum at UCLA-Amazing site at ETC; revamped from the CVR lab model.
Trace the evolution, get QT views of various spots in the Forum; especially useful is the addition of dual windows which show the QT reconstruction in one window and the actual panoramic footage simultaneously in an adjacent window.

Rome Fly-Through-a VR allowing you to "tour" ancient Rome. UCLA
Colosseum, Pantheon, Basilica of Maxentius, etc.-high quality, VRSweden

Temple of Mythras-virtual tour; University of Newcastle

Lepcis Magna-Theatre, Severan Basilica

Pompeii-Digital Media Center at University of Virginia (click on "Map of Pompeii"; the others are QT videos with people talking)

Herculaneum-Excellent site; Proxima Veritati, New Zealand

EARLY CHRISTIAN and BYZANTINE
Santa Maria Maggiore-QT reconstruction, c. 435; UCLA

Santa Maria Maggiore-the rest of the project at UCLA

Santa Maria Maggiore-huge interior panorama; Panoramas.dk

Ephesus-Sail Turkey.com
A number of high quality, large panoramas of Rome; Arounder.com

Ravenna-high quality exteriors and interiors of the major monuments (drag the image larger for full-size)

St. Catherine's Monastery at Sinai-high quality panorama exterior from World Heritage (see other options at the bottom of their screen)

ROMANESQUE and GOTHIC

SPAIN

Santiago de Compostela-a choppy Flythrough of the basilica; UCLA

Santiago de Compostela and major sites in Spain-panoramas; Spain360Vr
Cordoba-High Quality QTVR of mosque, mihrab, and cathedral; World Heritage

Portugal-various panoramas throughout the country; 360Portugal
Alhambra-cool interactive site from Columbia University

ENGLAND

York Cathedral-good site, but small panoramas; VRYork

Manchester Cathedral-good site, small panoramas; Mindwave

Manchester Cathedral-high resolution QTVR. from the nave; Panoramas.dk

ITALY

various locations in Italy-Italy360

Pisa-various exteriors and interiors; Comune di Pisa

Pisa-various medium quality QTVR panos; Italy Guides

St. Ambrogio, Milan-great panoramas; Arounder.com

Milan Cathedral-Arounder.com

FRANCE

various locations in France-medium sized panoramas; France 360

Vezelay-good site, but small Ipix panos

Chartres-good site, but small Ipix panos

Reims-cool site showing the evolution of the basilica, but small Ipix

Amiens-a good site, but small panos (the still digital reconstructions are also good)

GERMANY

great site, huge panoramas in many German cities

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE and BAROQUE

FLORENCE

Italy Guides-Florence, medium quality QT panoramas

Florence-high quality QTVR; Arounder.com

3-D laser scans of Michelangelo's David and St. Matthew
(note: you will need to download some software from Stanford for this)
Ashes2Art-a virtual tour with flash animation and panoramas designed by students at Coastal Carolina University
Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper-Arounder.com

ROME

Piazza Navona, Il Gesu, Trevi Fountain-high quality QTVR panos; VRSweden

The Vatican -The Sistine Ceiling, Sala della Segnatura, etc.

A number of high quality, large panoramas; Arounder.com

Italy Guides-medium quality QT panoramas

St. Peter's Basilica-Absolutely phenomenal QTVRs from VRSweden

VENICE

Large Quicktime panoramas of Piazza San Marco, the Palazzo Ducale,

Ponte dei Sospiri, Rio Bareteri, and the Ponte de Rialto-Venezia Serenissima

Italy Guides-medium quality QT panoramas

Excellent high quality panos; Arounder.com

PADUA

The Scrovegni Chapel-virtual tour & flythrough (note: you'll need to download

the software to run the model, but it's worth it)

PARMA

The Baptistry and Duomo-good QTVR panos; VRWay
Parma-High Quality QTVR panos from Arounder.com (be sure to click on "city tour" and then "Full Screen")

BOLOGNA

excellent tours of the city

VARIOUS OTHER ITALIAN (Romanesque to Modern)

of mediocre quality, including Assisi, Pisa, Milan, Naples, Siena, San Gimignano

Italy Guides-medium quality QT panoramas

Pisa-Italy Guides

Siena-Italy Guides
Naples-Italy Guides

ART MUSEUMS and GALLERIES

Ashmolean-A very good site from Oxford

Louvre-not bad, but relatively small panos
Louvre-Virtual Sweden