Bastille: station history
Served by: metro lines 1, 5 and 8.
Did you know?
Served by lines 1, 5 and 8, on the border of the 4th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, the station lies under place de la Bastille, where the fortress taken in 1789 once stood. The line 1 platforms pass over the Canal Saint-Martin, which joins the Arsenal basin here, which made it possible to avoid the foundations of the July Column. Nine entrances, spread around the square, serve the station.
Anecdote
During works on line 5, the foundations of the fortress's counterscarp wall, discovered in 1905, became visible on the platform towards Bobigny. A plaque in the line 1 tunnel mentions the Tour de la Liberté. The Guimard edicule, listed as a historic monument by order of 29 May 1978, was moved to boulevard Beaumarchais, and ceramic frescoes by Belembert and Jacquot date from May 1989, the bicentenary year. Platform screen doors were installed on line 1 in April 2011.
Audio guide
Capture of the Bastille: the end of the absolute monarchy
The storming of the Bastille in Paris on Tuesday, July 14, 1789, is the founding and iconic event of the French Revolution and marked the end of the Ancien Régime. Its demolition began the very next day, and a major portion of its ashlar stone blocks would be reused to build the Pont de la Concorde and various Parisian buildings.
Around Bastille
- Bofinger, 120 m away — The oldest of the Parisian brasseries, opened in 1864 by an Alsatian, famous for its Art Nouveau glass dome and its choucroute.
- Maison de Victor Hugo, 290 m away — Victor Hugo lived on the second floor of the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée, on place des Vosges, from 1832 to 1848. The building became the museum devoted to the writer in 1902. The square, completed under Henri IV in 1612, was originally called place Royale.
- Colonne de Juillet, 10 m away — A 50-metre bronze column erected in memory of the 1830 revolutions, topped by the golden Spirit of Freedom.
- Opéra Bastille, 210 m away — A modern opera house opened in 1989 for the bicentenary of the French Revolution, Paris's main lyric stage alongside the Opéra Garnier.
- Port de l'Arsenal, 140 m away — A marina linking the Seine to the Canal Saint-Martin, lined with walkways and houseboats, a pleasant stop along the water.