Arras and the Artois

Rich in centuries of heritage, the urban community of Arras and the Artois carries a dense local history, in what it has lived through as much as in what it has built. The challenge: start from the most visited site, the Place des Héros, lead visitors towards less accessible points of interest, and give residents a tangible sense of historical continuity.

The answer is a trail of immersive films connecting three places and three eras: the Place des Héros reconstructed in the middle of a market day in 1518, the citadel shown during its construction by Vauban in 1678, reconstructed down to his scar, and the Franco-German fraternisations of the Great War experienced inside a trench at Neuville-Saint-Vaast, alongside a corporal.

The trail was built over time. The first kiosk arrived at the Fraternisations Memorial in December 2017, then the citadel on 2 August 2018, for the tenth anniversary of its UNESCO World Heritage listing, and the Place des Héros in September 2018. In September 2022, a new kiosk was added along the Scarpe river.

All are free, self-service, day and night, permanently installed in urban and rural space. "With Timescope, tourism in the Artois enters a new dimension," said Philippe Rapeneau, president of the urban community.