Here in this historic place the stones now forming the Pont de la Concorde were laid one upon another to construct the castle called "The Bastille St. Antoine". The orginal structure was an old fortified city gateway erected in 1369-83 by Kings Charles V and VI.

The fortress was turned into a state prison, and as such became intolerably odious during the-years of French history preceding the Revolution. In July, I789, the populace, disturbed by the rumor that royal regiments were marching on the city, gathered arms, and in a hysterical insurrection swept down upon the Bastille and assaulted it desperately.

On the I4th of July Governor Delaunay, who had only a small garrison to hold out with against the mob, surrendered, and both he and his soldiers were massacred. If you would know what this terrible scene was like and would feel the grip and thrill of it, turn to Carlyle's "French Revolution" and read the chapter on the fall of the Bastille.

The old fortress was razed to the ground, and many and awful records were found within its grim walls. There is nothing now to define the location of the Bastille except a line of white stones running along the ground between the Rue St. Antoine and the Boulevard Henry IV. On one of the houses there is an inscription, together with a plan of the Bastille.

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