Place de la Bastille

Place de la Bastille is a famous Parisian square in the historic center of the city, which has become one of the cultural centers and symbols of the French capital. It is an open space where more than ten boulevards and streets intersect. The name “Bastille” comes from the French word bastide, which means “fortification”. It was the site of the famous fortress-prison that was destroyed during the French Revolution of 1789.

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Video: Place de la Bastille

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Highlights

Since 1880, July 14, Bastille Day, has been France’s main national holiday. The lines marking the perimeter of the ruined fort can still be seen today. They are made of a triple row of paving stones. In addition, the plan of the fortress is placed on a marble plaque, which is fixed on the house No. 1. Nowadays, mass events, concert programs, fairs, demonstrations of trade unions and various political parties take place on the Place de la Bastille. Traditionally, on Bastille Day, the square hosts the biggest ball in Paris.

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Rollers from different parts of the city, Parisian suburbs and even from other countries come to the Place de la Bastille on Sundays. Since 1998, up to 28,000 rollers have started the roller skating race from here. For the safety of the participants, Sunday rides are always accompanied by police officers, including a special police roller skating unit.

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Place de la Bastille is popular with Parisian youth who like to spend time in the surrounding nightclubs and cafes. And of course the historic site attracts numerous tourists. A visit to this Parisian square is included in almost all sightseeing tours of the city.

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History of Place de la Bastille

In the 14th century, a stone fortress was built on the site where the square now stands, becoming part of the fortifications that surrounded medieval Paris. The Bastille was a massive quadrangular fort, with one side facing the city and the other facing the suburbs of Paris. The fortress had eight towers and an inner courtyard.

The Bastille soon became a place where French kings were hidden and state criminals were held during popular uprisings and feuds. During the French Revolution of 1789, artisans from the Saint-Antoine suburb of Paris managed to take the previously impregnable Bastille.

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The demolition work stretched for three years and ended in mid-May 1791. The fortress was dismantled to the ground, and in the open space appeared a sign “Henceforth here dance”. Most of the stones of the Bastille were used in the construction of the Concord Bridge. In addition, miniature replicas of the fortress were made from broken stone and sold to the public.

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After the demolition of the large building, a spacious square was formed. According to the will of Napoleon Bonaparte in its center was to install a bronze monument with a fountain in the form of a huge elephant. The large sculpture was planned to be cast from the cannons that the French troops had wrested from the Spaniards. However, they managed to build only a plaster model of the monument 24 meters high. It was her French writer Victor Hugo described in the novel “Les Miserables.”

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July Column

Since 1840, the center of Place de la Bastille has been occupied by a majestic monument, a bronze column that reaches almost 80 m high. It appeared to immortalize the three days of triumph of the July Revolution of 1830, which remained in the memory of the French as a time of triumph of civil liberties. During the uprising, King Charles V was deposed and the new monarch of France was Louis-Philippe I, the “citizen king”. The architectural design of the column was prepared by Jean-Antoine Alavoine, and the construction and decoration of the monument was entrusted to Louis Duque.

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At the top of the monument stands the gilded figure of the winged Genius of Liberty, made by the talented French sculptor Augustin Dumont. At the foot of the monument you can see bas-reliefs, authored by sculptor Antoine-Louis Bari, as well as a plaque in honor of French citizens who defended civil liberties. The names of Parisians who died on the barricades during the July Revolution of 1830 and the Revolution of 1848 are immortalized here.

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Opera de la Bastille

From 1859 to 1969, the Bastille train station was located near the square. Trains leaving from here connected the French capital with its suburbs. Then there was no need for the railroad, and the station building was used for various exhibitions.

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In 1984, the old station was dismantled, and in its place on Place de la Bastille appeared a large Opera building, designed by Canadian-Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott. The inauguration of the musical theater took place in 1989, the anniversary year when the country celebrated the 200th anniversary of the taking of the Bastille.

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Tourists can take a paid tour of the Opera Bastille building. During it, guests are shown a large auditorium with 2,703 seats, an amphitheater that can seat 500 spectators, several foyers and the backstage entrance. Tickets for the tours are sold at rue de Lion, 130, they cost 11 euros.

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Port Arsenal

To the south of Place de la Bastille is a small harbor where small boats and yachts are moored. It is 544 meters long, 70 meters wide and 1.9 meters deep. The Arsenal harbor got its name because of the arms warehouse that existed here in the 16th and 18th centuries.

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The area around the harbor is a very quiet place where parents with children and elderly French people like to walk. The noise of the city hardly reaches here, seagulls fly over the water, and several fish and seafood restaurants are open.

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From the port of Arsenal, you can take a cruise along the Seine and admire the French capital from the water. This journey along the river allows you to see Paris from a completely different angle.

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How to get there

The spacious Place de la Bastille is spread out in the historic center of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. Directly below it is the Bastille metro station, where three underground lines – 1, 5 and 8 – intersect. Buses nos. 20, 29, 65, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16 and N144 also stop near the square.

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