Was the Bastille a prison?
In 1789, the Bastille was not just a prison but also served as an archive holding the documents of the Parlement de Paris, of the King’s household, and of the Parisian police.
What happened at the storming of the Bastille?
The Storming of the Bastille ( French: Prise de la Bastille [p?iz d? la bastij]) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At the time, the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris.
What is Bastille Day?
This French national holiday commemorates a turning point in the French Revolution, the storming of the Bastille, and celebrates la Fête de la Fédération (Festival of the Federation). You may already know our Bastille Day block party is a decades-long Boston tradition that welcomes 2,000 people each year for live music, delicious food, and fun.
Did Louis XVI want to erase the Bastille?
Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet, Mémoires sur la Bastille (1783). Frontispiece. The palace of the Bastille, that old symbol of despotism, is taken by the statue of the benevolent king Louis XVI in this engraving. Louis XVI was indeed planning to erase the gothic—and thus un-enlightened—and expensive prison, but the Revolution moved faster than him.
Epreuves communes 2007