World Prisons
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France · 4th arrondissement of Paris

Bastille

Closed 1789Low
Verified
Aging · 5mo ago
Sources last reviewed on

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How to send mail, money, and visit Bastille

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Photograph of Bastille

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • 80 of 'Les Rues & églises de Paris vers 1500. Une Fête à la Bastille en 1508. Le Supplice du Maréchal de Biron à la Bastille en 1602. Publiés d'après les éditions princeps avec préfaces et notes par A. Bonnardot' (11114629263).jpg

    Photo by Alfred Bonnardot via Wikimedia Commons (No restrictions)

  • Bastille 1715.jpg

    Photo by Rigaud, 18th century via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • BAstille Clock sculptures.jpg

    Photo by came from Aubin-Louis Millin's Antiquités nationales published 1790 via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Bastille key and gueridon table given by Barack Obama to François Hollande 2.jpg

    Photo by Tangopaso via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Bastille lettre 1759.jpg

    Photo by Louis XV of France via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Bastille reconstruction 1420.jpg

    Photo by Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Bastille towers profile.jpg

    Photo by Anonymous, 1750 via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Callot view of the Bastille.jpg

    Photo by Jacques Callot (1623-1652) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Background

The Bastille (, French: [bastij] ) was a medieval fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789, in the French Revolution, becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement. It was later demolished and replaced by the Place de la Bastille. The castle was built to defend the eastern approach to the city from potential English attacks during the Hundred Years' War.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

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Current population

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Occupancy

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Year opened

1370

Closed 1789

Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology

Facility profile

Operator

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Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

1370

Region

4th arrondissement of Paris

Security level

—

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

No conditions summary available yet.

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Notable inmates

  • Cardinal de Rohan
    Cardinal de Rohan
    1734–1803 · Catholic priest
  • Michel-Jean-Hugues Péan
    Michel-Jean-Hugues Péan
    1723–1782 · military personnel
  • Bernard Palissy
    Bernard Palissy
    1510–1589 · chemist

    Bernard Palissy (French pronunciation: [bɛʁnaʁ palisi]; c.

  • Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
    Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
    1433–1477 · feudatory

    Jacques d'Armagnac (c. 1433 – 4 August 1477), duke of Nemours, was a 15th-century French nobleman and military leader.

  • Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon
    Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon
    1648–1717 · autobiographer
  • Guillaume de Harouys
    Guillaume de Harouys
    1618–1699
  • René Auguste Constantin de Renneville
    1677–1723 · writer

    René Auguste Constantin de Renneville (October 9, 1677 – March 13, 1723), was a French writer. He was born in Caen, Province of Normandy.

  • Jean-Baptiste d'Ornano
    Jean-Baptiste d'Ornano
    1581–1626 · military officer

    Jean-Baptiste d'Ornano, Marquis de Montlaur (1581–1626) was a French nobleman and Marshal of France (1626).

  • Marquis de Sade
    Marquis de Sade
    1740–1814 · novelist

    Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( SA(H)D; French: [dɔnasjɛ̃ alfɔ̃s fʁɑ̃swa maʁki də sad]; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist, and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy, and pornography.

Showing 9 of 12. Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.

Contact & address

No public contact details available.

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

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Insufficient data
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Data completeness

16%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA
World Prisons. (2026). Bastille. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/bastille
Chicago
"Bastille." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/bastille.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-bastille,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Bastille},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/bastille},
  urldate = {2026-10-20}
}