What are some interesting facts about Bastille?

Question

What are some interesting facts about Bastille?

Answer 1

1) The name "Bastille" comes from the French word ‘bastide’, meaning fortress.

2) It was constructed in 1382.

3) It was besieged seven times and surrendering six of those times so despite its formidable appearrance it wasn't the best of fortresses and by the beginning of the 18th century it had been converted to a prison.

4)  Famous prisoners include Voltaire and the Marquis de Sade (for which Sadism gets its name). The most famous prisoner of the Bastille is probably the "man in the iron mask" written about by Alexander Dumas.

5) When the Bastille was stormed and taken by the Parisian mob on July 14th 1789 there were only seven prisoners inside.

Answer 2

It's no longer there.

The storming was mostly symbolic. There weren't many prisoners inside.

Answer 3

It's a myth that the Bastille was torn down by the Parisian mob.  While they stormed the castle, and were responsible for freeing the seven prisoners held inside, many people wanted to keep the Bastille as a memorial. But the Government chose to demolish it and did so properly.  It took around a year to get rid of the building completely.

Answer 4

The Bastille was a great fortress in Paris that was built about 1370 by King Charles V. Later it became a prison for people who displeased the King. It was considered a symbol of royal tyranny. On July 14th, 1789 a crowd of Parisians captured it, killed the prison's governor and released only the handful of prisoners who were held there. The next day the Parisian mob started to tear down the Bastille. Although the French Revolution begins with a financial crises when the King is forced to call a meeting of the Estates General, this symbolic act is what is remembered as the  beginning of the French Revolution. Like the Boston Massacre the storming of the Bastille was a symbolic event. I hope that this has been a help to you.