Night watchman carries on ancient tradition

He no longer alerts residents to fires, but a night watchman in the Swiss city of Lausanne — one of the last of his kind in Europe — says he’s honoured to keep alive a 600-year-old vigil.

Every evening, Marco Carrara climbs 153 worn steps to a bell tower overlooking the city on the shores of Lake Geneva, where he yells out the time hourly — “This is the watchman! The bell has tolled 10!” — just as watchmen have been doing since 1405.

Thousands of watchmen across Europe played an essential role when fires could quickly destroy medieval towns built largely of wood, but technology has made them redundant and Lausanne is one of just seven European towns and cities to maintain the role year-round, AFP reported.

Carrara says he enjoys serving as a living clock for residents and tourists, even though the evenings can be “quiet and quite lonely.”

Fellow watchman Renato Haeusler says the “out-ofsync” profession is a noble counterweight to society’s obsession with profitability and efficiency.

“In a completely chaotic world, I think that it is reassuring to have activities continue for a very long time, becoming traditions, and allowing us to rediscover a few of our roots,” he said.

Up to 700 people visit the tower during the evening watch each year, he added.

— GETTY IMAGES Every evening, night watchman Marco Carrara climbs to the top of the Lausanne cathedral bell tower and gets to work: he shouts out the time each hour.