The Tour César at your fingertips: the positive results of the POPGuide visit application

Since its launch four months ago, the POPGuide mobile application has revolutionised the visitor experience at the Tour César in Provins: designed with Sycomore, it replaces the traditional paper leaflets with an immersive audio-guided visit through the monument's 1,200 years of history, from its origins in the 9th century to the present day.

An application designed for an enriched visit experience

The POPGuide application is the result of six months of close collaboration between Sycomore and Provins Tourisme. It offers an audio trail of around 25 minutes, divided into ten segments, each retracing the different eras and functions of the Tour César. Each segment is associated with a specific location in the monument, indicated by a number.

Visitors thus pass through emblematic spaces such as the model room, the "pâté des Anglais", the guard room, the governor's chamber and the dungeon cell. The commentaries can be listened to at each stage, or replayed at any time: everyone discovers the tower at their own pace.

Innovative, discreet technology

What sets POPGuide apart from other digital visit solutions is its automatic commentary triggering system. Electronic beacons, discreetly concealed within the tower's architecture, detect visitors' presence and trigger the corresponding explanations as they progress.

The installation was a technical challenge for Sycomore: so as not to alter the historic appearance of the Tour César, the beacons were embedded in specially designed stone reproductions, indistinguishable from the original elements. Digital innovation thus blends harmoniously with heritage preservation, and the visit unfolds without any need to handle one's device: information starts automatically as visitors approach the points of interest, as if accompanied by an invisible guide.

Rich, educational content

The visit is structured around ten chapters, each addressing a key aspect of the monument's history and architecture: construction phases, the building's successive functions through the centuries, and captivating historical anecdotes. This thematic trail provides a complete and accessible understanding of the evolution of this emblematic site.

A promising future for digital visits

The trend towards the digitalisation of cultural visits is gaining ground. Visit applications make it easy to update content, offer personalised experiences and adapt to the needs of every audience. They also represent an opportunity for site managers: collecting data on visitor preferences, optimising routes, additional services and multilingual versions to overcome language barriers with international tourists.

Four months after its launch, the POPGuide application for the Tour César has established itself as a success: a smooth, content-rich and immersive experience that has won over thousands of visitors. The Tour César continues to reinvent itself, combining tradition and modernity to offer an unforgettable plunge into the medieval history of Provins.