Porrentruy

Your child becomes the hero of a story set right here in Porrentruy — at the city's real landmarks, in the familiar streets, in front of the buildings they know from everyday life.

You pick the topic

A fantasy adventure, a birthday gift, courage at the dentist, friendship on the first day of school — or any of 170+ themes from our library. Create a free account, pick your topic in the wizard, we set the story in Porrentruy.

Or become part of Porrentruy's history

Below you find Porrentruy's historical tales — from old legends to famous local events. Create a free account, pick one as your starting point, your child takes a role inside it.

Historical tales from Porrentruy

Real stories from Porrentruy's past — pick one and your child takes a role

The prince-bishop's last night

On 27 April 1792, a child living in the castle watches as French soldiers approach the gates. The prince-bishop's cat leads the child through secret passages in the Tour Refous, showing 264 years of memories hidden in the walls before the last bishop flees forever and an era ends.

Create This Story

The dinosaurs beneath the road

During road construction near Courtedoux, a child discovers that stepping into a 152-million-year-old sauropod footprint transports them to the Jurassic period, when the Ajoie was a warm tropical lagoon teeming with enormous creatures. The footprints are the doorway between two worlds separated by unimaginable time.

Create This Story

The Porte de France and the two countries

A child discovers that passing through the Porte de France at midnight lets them walk between two worlds: Porrentruy as a prince-bishop's court in 1750 and as a French département capital in 1793. They must find a way to reconcile the town's two identities before the gate clock strikes one.

Create This Story

900 plums for one wish

A child must collect exactly 900 damassine plums before Saint-Martin's Day to distill a magical Damassine that grants one wish. Each plum tells a story from Ajoie's history as it falls from the tree, and the child learns that the real magic lies in the patience of gathering, not the wish itself.

Create This Story

The clockmaker's apprentice

In 1842, a poor orphan enters Joseph Choffat's watchmaking workshop in the castle and discovers that each tiny gear they craft contains a miniature world. Completing their first watch opens a door to the castle's princely past, where time itself was measured differently.

Create This Story

The 800 plants of the Jurassian Garden

A child exploring the botanical garden at night finds that each of the 800 indigenous plant species whispers in a different voice. Together they tell the complete story of the Jura — from tropical lagoon to limestone mountain to the canton's independence in 1979.

Create This Story

The bouchoyade mystery

At the Saint-Martin festival, a child follows a lost piglet through the market stalls and medieval streets of Porrentruy, learning the traditions and recipes of each generation of Ajoie families. The piglet leads to the best totche in town and a grandmother who remembers when the feast meant everything.

Create This Story

The tower that remembers

The Tour Refous, 32 metres tall with walls 4.5 metres thick, has stood watch over Porrentruy since the 13th century. A child who touches the ancient stones hears the tower narrate everything it has witnessed — bishops, Jesuits, French soldiers, separatist marchers, and the joyful day in 1979 when the Jura became free.

Create This Story

How It Works

1

Upload a photo

Your child becomes the illustrated hero of the story.

2

Pick a story idea

Choose from local stories or 170+ other themes.

3

Get your book

A personalized illustrated story ready in minutes.

Create Your Swiss Story

Your child as the main character in a story set right here.

Swiss Stories require a free account. Trial stories use other themes.