The Bastille
The Bastille was not always a prison. It began as a fortified castle built in the fourteenth century to defend the eastern gate of Paris — the Porte Saint-Antoine. Laid out in 1370 under Parisian provost Hugues Aubriot and completed in 1383, it measured 66 metres long and 34 metres wide, with eight towers rising 24 metres and a moat 25 metres across fed by the Seine. Over time it became a royal prison where the king could lock up anyone without trial, making it the symbol of absolute monarchy. On 14 July 1789 the people of Paris stormed it; demolition began the very next day. Nothing of the castle stands in the square today, but it survives in the street name, on the metro walls, and in the outline traced across the pavement — corners worth lingering at, even if thousands walk over them without stopping.
France · 4 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Tower of Liberty
At the intersection of pavement and road outside 1 Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, a ring of specially laid stones marks the footprint of a tower. This was the Tower of Liberty (tour de la Liberté), one of the Bastille's eight towers: cylindrical, 24 metres tall, roughly 10 metres in diameter at its base, divided into five floors, positioned on the western side of the fortress with the Well Tower to the north and the Bertaudière Tower to the south. How it got its name is disputed: one theory holds that Parisians gave it the ironic title after a 1380 uprising; another says prisoners here enjoyed slightly more freedom of movement than those held elsewhere.
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
The Hierarchy Inside the Prison
Step inside the Bastille's walls and what kept it running was not a nameless crowd of jailers but a carefully stratified organization. At the top stood the governor, an office that was bought rather than earned; he lived in a residence with a formal French garden inside the castle's courtyard, in considerable comfort. At the bottom, the turnkeys were the ones who actually moved through the prison each day — escorting prisoners to the exercise yard, delivering meals. To understand how the Bastille maintained its reputation for both rigour and secrecy, you have to look at this chain of command.
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
The Numbers Behind the Myth
The legendary Bastille — dungeons packed with suffering masses — does not survive contact with the records. Cell capacity capped simultaneous occupancy at around 45; even at the height of Louis XIV's reign the count reached only about sixty. More striking still, the official records show that just 1.5 percent of prisoners died there. Standing on the site of this 'symbol of despotism,' these figures reframe the fortress more plainly than any legend can.
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Prisoners of the Wars of Religion
During the Wars of Religion (roughly 1562–1598), the Bastille held prisoners from across French public life — judges, writers, and nobles — and their fates could not have been more different. The most surprising entry in the records is the essayist Michel de Montaigne: caught up in the factional violence in 1588, he was imprisoned for just one day before being released. At the opposite extreme, the Protestant potter and naturalist Bernard Palissy was also imprisoned in 1588, during the period when the Catholic League controlled the Bastille, and he died there. Two men, the same year, the same gate — one walked out the next morning, one never did.
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside The Bastille?
Tower of Liberty, The Hierarchy Inside the Prison, The Numbers Behind the Myth and more — 4 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the The Bastille guide free?
All 4 guides are free.