Elephant of the Bastille

Paris, France

No longer standing

Demolished or destroyed.

The Elephant of the Bastille was a colossal monument that stood in Paris's Place de la Bastille from 1813 to 1846. Originally conceived by Napoleon I in 1808 as a bronze statue, the project was never realized in its intended material; instead, a full-scale plaster model was erected at the site of the former Bastille fortress. Standing 24 meters high, this novelty structure became an iconic fixture of the Parisian landscape and later inspired Victor Hugo's portrayal of it in *Les Misérables* (1862), where it shelters the street urchin Gavroche. The elephant was eventually replaced by the July Column, constructed on the same spot between 1835 and 1840.