Place de la Bastille

This guide to Place de la Bastille in Paris starts on the morning of July 14, 1789, when the crowd that stormed the notorious prison found only seven puzzled inmates inside. It follows what happened to Governor de Launay once the gates gave way, and to the fortress itself, torn down within months by an entrepreneur who sold its stones as souvenirs. Look for the line of special cobblestones in the pavement tracing where two of its towers once stood.