The Bastille is an enormous, very old medieval fortress with cannons in Paris, a prison for political and theatrical prisoners and for demonic creatures, with torture dungeons and a crypt beneath.
| Type | Fortress and prison |
| Spanish entry | La Bastilla |
Description
It covers at least two blocks. “Little cannons on top” point at the square and outward; it has a bridge side and a distinct back. Its zone holds three powers: the royal square (the king’s residence), the city government and the castle. The Place Royale is 100–150 meters away.
In front lies an open field — square, wagon stop, coach yard — where the Romani camp about a hundred meters from the guns, “half watched, because the Bastille is right there”.
The garrison was seen in two columns of guards, six by six, plus the captain; some carry musket-type firearms. The young Lejeune Auret is “trapped in the Bastille”, and one of the demonic creatures “was locked in the Bastille”.
Below
Stairs lead down to dungeons of stone, torches, smoke, crossed iron bars, iron maidens and pools of blood; the most used are “less polite than the rest”. Cell walls bear carved inscriptions, among them that of the Marquis de Sá.
Deeper lies the crypt, and in it a square. Casemiro explored and measured it and proposes it as the venue of the secret poker game, outside the fortress’s authority.
One account ties the Bastille to the Marquis de Sade, the libertines and the Revolution, linking it to the prelude of the Libertateurs, year 1784.
Conflicting accounts
- Location. The dominant account puts it on the highest, most defensible ground of Paris, on the walls, defending the city; another puts it “on the outskirts”.
- Standing or demolished. Some voices say “it was demolished almost 100 years ago” — one counting from 1870, placing its fall around 1770. All other records show it standing (“go up to the Bastille”).
Open questions
- Whether the crypt is real architecture, how it is entered, what its “square” is and who holds ceremonies there.
- The true size of the garrison and number of cannons.
- Who commands it, and his relation to the city government and the king.
- Which demonic creature was held, and whether it remains; the exterior’s color and stone.