On the 12th of December, we commemorate L’Escalade.

In 1602, Geneva was coveted by the Savoyards. Charles-Emmanuel I intended to make Geneva his capital north of the Alps. Thus, he launched an attack on the night of 11-12 December with 2000 soldiers.

Armed with nothing more than courage and halberds, the citizens of Geneva, men and women alike, ran out of their houses to defend the city alongside the bourgeois militia and the city soldiers. They fought off the enemy using any means to hand. A number of stories recall the courage of la Mère Royaume who scalded one Savoyard with her pot of soup.

Since 1881, chocolate cauldrons decorated have been eaten at this time every year in honour of her bravery.

The tradition says that the youngest and the oldest have to smash the cauldron saying the sentence: “Ainsi périsent les ennemis de la République”.