About 47,000 monuments · over 200,000 places
« Every place keeps the memory of those who passed through.
You only have to listen. »
The Murmure app whispers their story to you as you walk past. On foot, by bike, anywhere in France.
How it works
Three gestures, nothing more.
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01
You discover
The app detects the heritage places you cross. No need to search: they come to you.
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02
You walk
A discreet notification, the place name, the distance. You decide: keep walking, or head to the place.
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03
You learn
Thirty seconds to a minute thirty. Calm voice. Precise facts. A history of France, stone by stone.
Listen to a memo
Saint-Denis Church
Chapet, Yvelines.
A small country church hiding a thread of royal French history. Here's what Murmure would whisper to you if you walked or biked past.
Read the transcript
Synthesized voice for this demo. In the app, memos are generated automatically from Wikipedia and Wikidata, then read by a synthetic voice. You can also record a memo yourself.
Coverage
About 47,000 listed monuments, over 200,000 places. From cathedrals to hamlets.
About 47,000 listed monuments from the POP-Mérimée database of the French Ministry of Culture, plus over 200,000 places from OpenStreetMap. Listed monuments, rural chapels, roadside crosses, old bridges, archaeological sites, industrial heritage. Memos cover only a selection of them for now. The circle near Paris is Chapet, the memo you just listened to.
Sources: POP-Mérimée register (French Ministry of Culture), OpenStreetMap, Wikipedia, Wikidata.
Why Murmure is different.
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Not an audioguide, not a guided tour.
Just audio memos, where you walk. Nothing to book, nothing to download in advance.
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Not a top-10, not a curated list.
About 47,000 listed monuments and over 200,000 other places referenced, roadside crosses included. Memos still cover only a selection of them.
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No advertising SDK, no tracker.
Your location is only used to find nearby places: it is not saved in our database. No advertising SDK, no tracker. API hosted in France (OVH).
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Free for visitors.
The app is free for visitors: listening and contributing are both included. Offers for tourism professionals (tourist offices, towns, cultural venues) remain an idea under study, with no timeline and no commitment.
Frequently asked questions.
Does it work outside France?
Not yet. Murmure covers France: about 47,000 listed monuments (POP-Mérimée database of the French Ministry of Culture) and over 200,000 places from OpenStreetMap. No expansion abroad is planned for now.
Does it work offline?
Not for now. You need a data or Wi-Fi connection to receive nearby places.
Will it drain my battery?
Walk Mode works with the app open, in the foreground: keep Murmure open during your walk. It does not work in the background or with the screen locked yet. Since it uses GPS, it does use battery: we have no reliable figure to announce, and you can turn it off whenever you like.
Where do the memos come from?
Memos are generated automatically from Wikipedia and Wikidata, then read by a synthetic voice, for a selection of places. The app also lets you record your own memos, which go through moderation before publication: human contribution is possible.
What's the difference with Izi.TRAVEL or a classic audioguide?
Izi.TRAVEL (and audioguides in general) work by tours: you pick a route, download it, and follow the path. Murmure is passive: you walk wherever you want, and the app alerts you when you pass near a place. No planning, no booking, no set itinerary.
Do you store my location?
It is not saved in our database: the app sends your coordinates to our servers only to return nearby places. Like any web request, it may appear in the server's technical logs, kept 30 days at most. No advertising SDK, no advertising ID.
And on iOS?
Not for now. Murmure only exists on Android: there is no iOS version, and no date has been announced.
Is it really free?
Yes, for all users: no subscription, no premium, no in-app purchases.
Is the app available in my language?
The app is available in 5 languages: French, English, German, Spanish and Italian. This website is translated into 8 languages (adding Dutch, Japanese and Chinese), but some place pages only exist in French.
"Every place keeps the memory of those who passed through.
You only have to listen."