Storming of the Bastille Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille ( ) occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress, armory, and political prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming, but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy's abuses of power; its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, "Le quatorze juillet" (14 July) is a public holiday, usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of
Paris in the 16th century at the Hôtel des Tournelles, near the Bastille, in a house that the Kings used when passing through Paris. At the direction of the King, the architect Pierre Lescot started to transform the Louvre from a grim fortress into a modern residence; he tore down the massive central keep, or tower, to give more light to the square courtyard, and widened the windows. He then built a new wing, decorated in the new Renaissance style imported from Italy. The new wing designed by Lescot became a model for French Renaissance buildings throughout France. He moved into the Louvre in 1534.