How many towers did the Bastille fortress have? The Bastille fortress had eight towers.
The medieval fortress, officially known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine, was built in Paris between 1370 and 1383 under Charles V. Its original defensive structure developed from an earlier two-towered bastille near the Saint-Antoine gate. Six additional towers were then added, producing the familiar eight-tower fortress.
The towers were linked by massive curtain walls and surrounded by a ditch. By the late eighteenth century, the towers stood about 24 metres high, with walls roughly 3 metres thick at their bases. The complex enclosed two courtyards, an armoury, and prison rooms spread through the towers.
The number is sometimes confused with the Bastille’s other architectural features, such as its four drawbridges, multiple storeys, or later external bastions. Those details belong to the fortress’s wider defensive system and do not change the central count: the main Bastille had eight towers.