Studio News
September 23, 2026
Sugar Creative and 9D Cinema Consulting announce Rhodes Reborn, a location-based AR trail through Rhodes Old Town
The island's history brought back to life across the Old Town. Opening at Mandraki harbour in April 2027 with the Colossus of Rhodes.
Rhodes, Greece and Cardiff, Wales. Immersive studio Sugar Creative and Rhodes-based 9D Cinema Consulting today announced Rhodes Reborn, an augmented reality trail that brings the island's history back to life at the places it happened.
Visitors start at Throne of Helios on Mandraki harbour and follow a walking route through Rhodes Old Town. At each stop the past appears in front of them, rebuilt at full scale on their own phone, exactly where it stood, with a short game to play inside the moment.
The first location is the harbour itself, where visitors watch the Colossus of Rhodes rise again at the harbour mouth. Further locations across the Old Town will follow, drawing on the island's ancient, medieval and Knights-era history.
Rhodes Reborn opens in April 2027 with the Colossus at Mandraki, with further Old Town locations added through the 2027 season.
Rhodes Reborn is built for the footfall the Old Town already has: families, couples and groups on a day out, cruise passengers with a few hours ashore, and local visitors who know the sites but have never seen them whole. Throne of Helios, the 9D cinema and history attraction on Mandraki harbour, is the trail's starting point, where visitors can pick it up in person.
Jason Veal, Managing Director, Sugar Creative: "This is the third time we have put a city's history back on its own streets. 878 AD did it for Alfred's Winchester in the UK, and Echoes of Revolution is doing it for New York and Boston. Rhodes gives us the Colossus, the Knights and one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe, with a partner on the ground who already welcomes thousands of visitors a year. Rhodes Reborn is built on everything we learned from the first two."
Stergos Stergenakis, 9D Cinema Consulting: "Every day someone stands at Mandraki and asks me where the Colossus was. From April I will be able to tell them to look up. Rhodes Reborn lets people see what this town looked like, standing exactly where it happened."
Sugar Creative is designing and developing the experience, with both partners collaborating on the historical research. Rhodes Reborn will be sold on the island through 9D Cinema Consulting, including in person at Throne of Helios on Mandraki harbour.
Sugar Creative is at IAAPA Expo Europe on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September.
