スイスの大聖堂に女性の夜警、６００年超の歴史で初

【ジュネーブＡＦＰ＝時事】スイス・ローザンヌ市は２６日、６００年以上の伝統を誇る大聖堂の夜警に、史上初めて女性が就任したと発表した。カサンドル・ベルドズさんは、今月１６日から夜警助手を務めているという。（写真はスイス・ローザンヌの大聖堂）
　レマン湖のほとりにある風光明媚（めいび）なローザンヌで、黒い帽子をかぶりランタンを手にした夜警は一年中、大聖堂の鐘楼に上り、毎晩午後１０時から午前２時まで１時間ごとに肉声で時を告げる。６１６年の歴史を持つ伝統だ。
　市当局によると、ローザンヌの夜警の任を女性が務めるのは「史上初」であり、ベルドズさんは「１４０５年から途切れることなく続く伝統を守り、発展させるのに貢献する」存在だという。
　ローザンヌ生まれのベルドズさんは、「物心ついた頃から、この伝統に魅了されてきた。ずっと夜警になりたかった」と述べている。
　女性の夜警は、欧州全土でも史上初とみられる。
　かつて欧州各地に数万人いたとされる夜警は、極めて重要な役割を担っていた。木造建築ばかりの中世の町や都市にとって、火災は常に脅威だった。鐘楼の上から煙をいち早く見つけ、警鐘を鳴らす大聖堂の夜警は、街頭を見回る番人たちのネットワークの要だった。
　しかし、技術が進歩するにつれて夜警は時代遅れとなり、欧州からほぼ姿を消してしまった。ローザンヌ市によれば、欧州では同市を含めて６３都市に現在も夜警の伝統が残っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/31-11:11）

After over 600 years of night watchmen, a woman has for the first time been tasked with shouting out the time each hour through the night from the Lausanne cathedral bell tower.
Cassandre Berdoz began working as an assistant night watchwoman at the Lausanne cathedral on August 16, the Swiss city announced Thursday.
This is the first time that this position ... has been held by a woman, who is helping keep alive a tradition uninterrupted since 1405, while helping it evolve, it said in a statement.
Berdoz, it said, was likely the first woman to ever be officially appointed to the task anywhere in Europe.
The new watchwoman herself said she was thrilled with the new position.
As far back as I can remember, this tradition has fascinated me, and I have always wanted to be a watchwoman, the Lausanne native said in the statement.
She is joining the ranks of male colleagues who have clambered to the top of the cathedral bell tower every single evening for the past 616 years.
All year round, from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am, the night watchman, wearing a big black hat and carrying a lantern, steps out to the bell tower railing to serve as a living clock for the people of the picturesque city on the shores of Lake Geneva.
The night watchmen, who once numbered in the tens of thousands across Europe, used to play a far more vital role.
Back when fire was a permanent threat to medieval towns and cities built in wood, he was an essential part of a network of watchmen, most of whom patrolled the streets.
From his perch, the cathedral watchman was tasked with sounding the alarm at the first whiff of smoke.
But as technology advanced, the once ubiquitous position became largely obsolete and the watchmen all but disappeared across the continent.
Lausanne is today one of 63 European towns and cities that still have night watchmen, Thursday's statement said.
Except for a few substitute stints, women have never held the position anywhere on the continent, it said, citing information from the European Guild of Night and Tower Watchmen.
Lausanne is thus an equality pioneer in this area, the city boasted.