Bastille (Grenoble)

The Bastille is the name of a fortress culminating at 476 m above sea level, located at the south end of the Chartreuse mountain range and overlooking the city of Grenoble, France. The Bastille, which also gives its name to the hill, is the main tourist site of the Grenoble area with 600 000 visitors per year.GeographyThe fortress lies on the final promontory of Mount Rachais, a narrow mountain that is the most southerly of the Chartreuse range.The plateau of the fortress' main fortifications is situated 264 metres above a singularly flat valley floor which is glacial in origin. The melting of the Isère glacier approximately years ago led to the formation of a vast lake stretching from Voiron to Albertville and which remained for approximately years. The filling-in of this lake by alluvial deposits created the perfectly flat valley floors that are in evidence today.The location of the fort was chosen because it facilitated the surveillance and control of the city of Grenoble, from the 19th century onward, as well as the valleys of the Isère and the Drac, all the while being difficult to attack and overthrow because of the cliffs and steep ground by which it is surrounded.