A Norwegian photographer named Stian Rekdal was contracted by the Greek National Tourist Organization to shoot footage in Greece for tourism promotion videos.

He shot thousands of hours of footage and created a single, 5 minute time-lapse video of Athens that captures stunning moments of one of the world’s most vibrant cities.

His work has been featured by the National Geographic, BBC, NBC, Sony, Rolls Royce, Icelandair and numerous other global companies.

Stian’s told the Greek online publication Greece Is that his love for Greece is long-term affair which began 10 years ago on a short trip to Santorini.

He jokes that he was meant to come for two days and ended up staying for 10 years.

The video takes the viewer through scenes of the Panathenaic Stadium, panoramas of urban Athens, Zappeion, the Acropolis, the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Acropolis museum, Athenian street art, Monastiraki square, the Temple of Sounion, OAKA Olympic Stadium, Syntagma Square and Plaka, with the images shifting across the day into the night.

Watch Rekdal’s video here:

Athens from Stian Rekdal on Vimeo.