Switzerland/Culture: new museum in front of the famous castle, the Fort of Chillon has opened its doors.
A new kind of museum has opened its doors opposite the famous Château de Chillon. The Fort of Chillon combines interactivity and technology to help visitors discover the history of the national shrine.
The Fort of Chillon officially opened its doors on Saturday in Veytaux (VD). This museum of a new kind mixes history, tradition, interactivity, playful didactics and modern technologies. It hopes to welcome 70,000 visitors next year.
"We are very pleased. After we announced the opening yesterday evening, visitors already turned up early this morning. And we have received a lot of phone calls from interested people," the director of Fort Luana Menoud Baldi was delighted on Saturday. She specified that the museum had the authorization to open on Sunday. "We will be able to welcome the public tomorrow," she told Keystone-ATS.
Invisible from the outside, the Fort de Chillon, an underground labyrinth, located opposite the famous castle, invites to plunge into the bowels of the mountain. It tells the story of what has long been Switzerland's best-kept secret: the national shrine. Its aim is to bring to life the daily lives of the thousands of soldiers who have lived there since it was built in 1941.
The scenography is designed for visitors of all ages and is the work of museologist François Confino, who designed Chaplin's World in Corsiere, and a whole team of experts. Cutting-edge technologies combine furniture, original objects and innovative virtual and augmented reality tools.
Simulation and strategy games
In addition to the issues at stake in the Swiss national shrine, the museum offers the "Soldier's Adventure", a simulation of the daily life of the Fort's residents. An augmented reality and 3D strategy games room will allow visitors to discover Swiss history, geography and reality from an interactive and fun angle.
The Fort should have already opened its doors in the summer of 2020. But the pandemic has delayed the work, said the director.
The Clément-Jost family, the majority shareholder, became the owner of the site in 2010. The company Fort de Chillon was created in June 2013, before a decisive step was taken in 2018, when the building permit was obtained and the separate and permanent right to the plots linked to the Fort de Chillon was granted. The project, with a total cost of 9 million, could then be launched.
Source: www.lenouvelliste.ch
