Châtelet

The Grand Châtelet was a 12th C fortress built to protect the Ile de la Cité. It was later used as a prison, and thereafter was the seat of the Provost of Paris (Prévôt des Marchands). In 1802 Napoleon had the fortress pulled down, and during the Second Empire two theaters were built on its site: on the west side of the square the Théâtre du Châtelet, with a facade in Italian Renaissance style, and on the east side the Théâtre Sarah Bernhard.