They are buildings, cities and natural wonders. They house the heights of cultural achievement and offer backdrops for our best ideas. Asked to name the most influential place in history, previous and present TIME 100 honorees reflect on locations that have seen and in some cases helped bring about some of the most transformative moments in human experience.
A drawing of the fortress Bastille
A medieval fortress in Paris that represented royal authority, the Bastille was a nearly empty prison when demonstrators stormed its battlements on July 14, 1789. The great act of public defiance is remembered as the flash point of the French Revolution and celebrated every summer.
