Place de la Bastille: Difference between revisions

{{short description|ParisianSquare squarein Paris, France}}

| image = Place de la Bastille, ZARBAFavril 2021.jpg

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| caption = PlaceThe deJuly la BastilleColumn, with the Julynew Columnpedestrian area at night,the Sep,south side (after the removal of the large road in 2019-2021)

The '''Place de la Bastille''' ({{IPA-fr|plas də la bastij}}) is a square in [[Paris]] where the [[Bastille|Bastille prison]] once stood, until the [[storming of the Bastille]] and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the [[French Revolution]]. No vestige of the prison remains.

The square straddles 3 ''[[Arrondissements of Paris|arrondissement]]s'' of Paris, namely the [[4th arrondissement of Paris|4th]], [[11th arrondissement of Paris|11th]] and [[12th arrondissement of Paris|12th]]. The square and its surrounding areas are normally called simply ''Bastille''. The [[July Column]] (''Colonne de Juillet'') which commemorates the events of the [[July Revolution]] (1830) stands at the center of the square. Other notable features include the [[Opéra Bastille|Bastille Opera]], the [[Bastille (Paris Metro)|Bastille subway station]] and a section of the [[Canal Saint Martin]]. Prior to 1984, the former [[Gare de La Bastille|Bastille railway station]] stood where the [[opera house]] now stands.

The Bastille was built between 1370 and 1383 during the reign of King [[Charles V of France|Charles V]] as part of the defenses of Paris,; the structure was converted into a state prison in the 17th century by [[Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]], who was king [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]]'s chief minister. At that time it primarily housed [[political prisoner]]s, but also religious prisoners, "[[seditious]]" writers, and young rakes held at the request of their families. It began to acquire a poor reputation when it became the main prison for those taken under [[lettres de cachet]] issued by the King of France.

By the late 18th century, the building was made up of eight close-packed towers, around 24 m (80 ft) high, surrounding two courtyards and the armoury. The prisoners were held within the 5-7 story towers, each having a room around 4.6 m (15 ft) across and containing various articles of furniture. The infamous cachots (dungeons), the oozing, vermin-infested subterranean cells were no longer in use, since the respective reigns of [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]] and [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]], who both worked on reforming the penal system in France. The governor of the prison was given a daily allowance per prisoner, the amount depending on their status—from nineteen [[livres]] [[per diem]] for scientists and academics down to three for commoners. InAlthough termsits ofprisoners' standards, thereconditions were better than in many worseother prisons in France, including the dreaded [[Bicêtre]], also in Paris. However, in terms of popular literary accounts, focused on the Bastille wasas a place of horror and oppression, and a symbol of autocratic cruelty.

[[File:Model of the Elephant-siderography-LaBastille2 for the Place de la Bastille, 1831.jpg|thumb|left|Siderograph (steel engraving) of the full-scale elephant to be built, by [[Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin]], 1830]]

The formercurrent locationPlace ofde thela fortBastille is currentlylocated calledon ''Placethe deformer la Bastille'fort's site. ItIn addition to the July Column, it is also home to the [[Opéra Bastille]]. The large ditch (''fossé'') behind the former fort has been transformed into a [[marina]] for pleasure boats, the [[Bassin de l'Arsenal]], to the south, which is bordered by the [[Boulevard de la Bastille]]. To the north, a covered [[canal]], the [[Canal Saint-Martin]], extends north from the marina beneath the vehicular roundabout that borders the location of the fort, and then continues for about 4.4 kilometers to the [[Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad]].