Costumed torchbearer during the Escalade night procession

Fête de l’Escalade · Geneva

The Night Geneva Held Firm

The series

Geneva sleeps when, on the night of 11 to 12 December 1602, the soldiers of the Duke of Savoy attempt to scale its walls by surprise. The alarm spreads, bells ring and the inhabitants rise to defend the city. More than four centuries later, the Fête de l’Escalade brings this episode back to the streets of the Old Town. Torches carve out the silhouettes, drums set the pace of the march and costumes give the seventeenth century a face once more. Riders, pikemen and arquebusiers advance within a shared narrative. My eye is drawn less to the re-enactment than to what it provokes: the concentration before the procession, the warmth of a flame on a face, the tension of a horse, the passage from noise to silence. Here, history does not remain behind glass. It moves through Geneva, carried by those who still choose to bring it to life.

Place: Geneva
Year: 2022
Photographer: Charles Garcia

Row of armoured pikemen advancing through Geneva at night — 02The pikes draw a line between the procession and the crowd.

Crowd and torchlight procession in Geneva’s Old Town — 03The Old Town brings generations together around the same story.

Historical rotisserie during the Escalade celebrations — 04Around the fire, the re-enactment also recovers the gestures of everyday life.

Armoured participants sharing mulled wine at a long table — 05At the long table, armour meets mulled wine and sharing.

Costumed riders and Geneva banners in the Old Town — 06On horseback, memory descends through the streets of Geneva.

Spectator filming the Escalade procession on a phone — 07The past also parades across the screen of the present.

Costumed arquebusiers marching beneath a banner — 08Arquebuses and banners give the seventeenth-century troops form once more.

Historical re-enactment around a cannon in Geneva — 09Before the detonation, every gesture around the cannon is carefully set.

Arquebusiers firing a volley in front of the crowd in Geneva — 10The volley closes the scene in smoke and sparks.

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