Place de la Bastille is named after the fortress that has stood on the eastern edge of Paris since the late 18th century. The fortress was ordered to be built by King Charles V specifically to ensure his own safety. The task could not be solved: in different Bastille was stormed seven times in different eras, and all seven times it surrendered without resistance.
In Louis XIV's diary on this day, the entry was made, "Nothing. The Bastille has been taken".
800 labourers dismantled the fortress over a period of three years. Today you can see its contours laid out on the square with paving stones of a contrasting colour. 14 July is now - France's bank holidays. It's important to know, however, that the holiday was not in honour of the taking of the Bastille, but of the reconciliation between the king and the deputies, marking national harmony.
The centrepiece of the square is the July Column, erected here to commemorate the French Revolution of 1830. the French Revolution of 1830. The column is also a memorial: at its base. at its base is a crypt in which the remains of those who fell during the revolutions are buried.
Next to it stands the Opera Bastille. It is the largest and most modern opera house in Paris (its Great Hall alone seats 2,700 spectators). The Opera Opera Bastille has the reputation of being the most democratic: it is not considered objectionable to to come here even in jeans.
