The Bastille

The Bastille was a former French prison fortress in the East end of the city of Paris built around 1370. It was despised as a symbol of despotism and royal tyranny. The Bastille was constructed to defend the eastern wall of Paris from hostile forces. With walls over eighty feet high and well stocked and supplied arsenal, the Bastille quickly gathered the reputation of one of France's most secure military stronghold. However, after being defeated several times, the importance of the fortress diminished and by the early seventeen hundreds it had already become a prison. And so it remained during the 17th and 18th centuries being used mainly for housing political prisoners. Among those prisoners there have been famous ones, such as Voltaire, the famous political writer, and Marquis de Sade, a well-known French writer. The most famous and mysterious prisoner of the Bastille, is the legendary man in the iron mask, whose character is in a famous book, written by Alexander Dumas. At the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the Bastille was attacked and stormed by a mob. They found only seven prisoners inside: four forgers, two lunatics and a young noble. The Bastille's fall became a symbol of the end of the Monarchy and the beginning of the First Republic. Two days later the destruction of the stronghold was begun amid great public rejoicings. The site is now an open square, called the Place de la Bastille.