Fondation des Clés de Saint-Pierre: combining heritage and technology with the A-Guide Smart

The Fondation des Clés de Saint-Pierre, based in Geneva, was created on 23 May 1973 with the mission of restoring and conserving St. Pierre Cathedral and its archaeological site, open to the public since 16 May 1986. More than a mere historic monument, it is a living place where history, art and culture meet.

The Foundation is committed to preserving the cathedral, the Macchabées chapel, the towers, the spire and the archaeological site so that future generations can discover an authentic, well-presented heritage. Through a foundation board representing the Protestant Church of Geneva, the Saint-Pierre Fusterie parish, the State and the City of Geneva, it ensures the rigorous, ongoing conservation of the site, in collaboration with the public authorities and the Swiss Confederation. Over the years, it has also organized emblematic cultural events, such as the Clefs de Saint-Pierre fairs.

An exceptional collection and site

The site offers visitors a unique experience:

• St. Pierre Cathedral, with its chapels, towers and spire, symbolizes Geneva's religious and cultural history;
• the archaeological site, discovered during restoration work, allows visitors to travel back in time and understand the evolution of the building and its surroundings;
• exhibitions and explanatory panels enrich the visit with context and historical information.

Each space is carefully staged so that visitors can freely observe their surroundings while immersing themselves in the story through the audio guide.

A modernized audio guide: the A-Guide Smart

To improve the visit experience and make it accessible to all, the Foundation renewed its audio guide system with the A-Guide Smart. This device offers manual triggering and synchronizes with audiovisual content across six areas of the route.

Visitors activate the audio commentary themselves by entering the numbers shown on the panels. When they stand in front of a screen, the device automatically synchronizes with the audiovisual content. The audio guide, included in the entrance ticket, offers a smooth, immersive tour of around 1.5 hours, covering the Foundation's main points of interest.

Thanks to this system, sound becomes the main vehicle of immersion, allowing visitors to dive into the history of the cathedral and the archaeological site while keeping their eyes free to fully take in the spaces and heritage objects.

An immersive experience accessible to all

The A-Guide Smart turns the visit into an interactive, personalized experience: visitors move through the different areas at their own pace, the audio and video content is synchronized for a harmonious, coherent route, and the audio guide perfectly complements the observation of the spaces and collections, enriching the understanding of the history and architecture.

Conclusion: uniting technology and heritage

The Fondation des Clés de Saint-Pierre perfectly illustrates the importance of combining cultural interpretation, technology and heritage conservation. Thanks to the A-Guide Smart, visitors enjoy an immersive, interactive tour in which audio and video showcase the cathedral, the chapel, the towers and the archaeological site. This initiative demonstrates that it is possible to modernize the visit while respecting the authenticity of the heritage.