What fortress was stormed on Bastille Day?

The fortress stormed on Bastille Day was the Bastille.

The Bastille was a medieval fortress, armory, and royal prison in Paris. On July 14, 1789, revolutionary insurgents attacked it to obtain gunpowder and ammunition, while also challenging the authority of King Louis XVI’s government. Its capture became one of the defining events of the French Revolution.

Although the Bastille had a fearsome reputation, only seven prisoners were held there when it fell: four accused of forgery, two people regarded as mentally ill, and an aristocrat imprisoned at his family’s request. The building’s symbolic importance was greater than its remaining prison population.

The event was also more complicated than many popular illustrations suggest. The attackers faced a garrison of veteran soldiers and Swiss grenadiers, and fighting caused substantial casualties before the governor surrendered. The fortress was later demolished, but its memory survives in France’s July 14 national holiday. The Louvre, Notre-Dame, and Versailles were not the targets of the 1789 assault.