HÔTEL DE VILLE
It was the center of power five hundred and fifty years ago, and remains so today. The tower was the seat of Geneva's communal power in the Middle Ages, and nowadays it houses the Council of State. When you pass the porch, don't miss the visit of the Baudet Tower, built in 1455. Originally, its function was military, as evidenced by the cannons outside. Indeed, Geneva was under a double threat: the House of Savoy was threatening and saw the city as the "key to Switzerland". In domestic politics, the episcopal see which controlled temporal power was partly in the hands of this same house of Savoy. Republican aspirations or episcopal aristocracy? Geneva was torn between these social struggles. Climb to the top of the tower by the ramp; it was designed to allow two horsemen to climb abreast without stepping on the ground, or citizens subject to gout disease to reach the top floor without getting off their sedan chair. In 1762, the works of Rousseau, Emile and The Social Contract, were burned there. These works were accused of "destroying religion and governments". The burning caused the author to renounce his citizenship of Geneva. Sitting on the bench at the entrance, the judges pronounced their sentences. The Alabama Room was the site of the first diplomatic and arbitration decisions: the resolution of a dispute between the United States and England in 1872. On August 22, 1864, the Geneva Convention was signed, the first step towards the Red Cross
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