The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris.
On July 14, 1789, insurgents gathered in Paris during a period of political crisis, food shortages, and fear that royal troops would suppress the revolutionary movement. After securing weapons at the Hôtel des Invalides, the crowd moved toward the Bastille, where gunpowder had been stored.
The fortress stood in the Saint-Antoine district of Paris and represented royal authority in the heart of the capital. Negotiations with its governor, Bernard-René de Launay, broke down, and fighting began. The attackers eventually entered the fortress after the garrison capitulated that afternoon.
The event helped turn Paris into the central stage of the early French Revolution. It also explains why the city features so prominently in Bastille Day traditions, including the military parade along the Champs-Élysées. Bordeaux, Marseille, and Lyon were important French cities, but none was the location of the Bastille’s capture.