Located at the crossroads of the 4th, 11th, and 12th arrondissements of Paris, the Place de la Bastille is a major landmark of the French Revolution. It takes its name from the Bastille prison, taken on 14 July 1789 by the Parisian people. This 215-metre long and 150-metre wide square, decorated in 1840 with the Colonne de Juillet (July Column), was created on 27 June 1792. A strategic crossing point in eastern Paris, it is one of the main road junctions in the capital. To the west of the square, between the rue Saint-Antoine and the boulevard Henri-IV, the site of the former prison is marked on the ground by red paving stones.