The Fête de L’Escalade more commonly known as L’Escalade (Festival of Scaling Defensive Walls) is an annual festival held here in Geneva celebrating the victory over the surprise attack over Geneva by the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I. At the time and very similar to today, Geneva was a wealthy Protestant state. It still wasn’t a part of the Swiss Confederation, so the Duke wanted to make his capital north of the Alps, continuing his expansion of Catholicism. On the night of December 11th of 1602, the Duke and his troops tried to invade Geneva in a surprise attack. Assembling in Plainpalais, at 2 AM on the 12th of December, part of the troops started the invasion by attempting to scale the walls of the old town. Legend says that Catherine Cheynel, a mother of 14 children, spotted the group of invaders and poured a cauldron of boiling soup over the wall, killing one of the enemies. The commotion aroused the townsfolk, leading the citizens of Geneva to defend the city.
The Fête de L’Escalade more commonly known as L’Escalade (Festival of Scaling Defensive Walls) is an annual festival held here in Geneva celebrating the victory over the surprise attack over Geneva by the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I. At the time and very similar to today, Geneva was a wealthy Protestant state. It still wasn’t a part of the Swiss Confederation, so the Duke wanted to make his capital north of the Alps, continuing his expansion of Catholicism. On the night of December 11th of 1602, the Duke and his troops tried to invade Geneva in a surprise attack. Assembling in Plainpalais, at 2 AM on the 12th of December, part of the troops started the invasion by attempting to scale the walls of the old town. Legend says that Catherine Cheynel, a mother of 14 children, spotted the group of invaders and poured a cauldron of boiling soup over the wall, killing one of the enemies. The commotion aroused the townsfolk, leading the citizens of Geneva to defend the city.
Well done Heather- great run.. 12.23!