Below the Bastille, three metro lines meet: line 1, line 5 with remains of an outer Bastille wall on the platform, discovered during the construction of that metro line, and line 8.

The line 1 platform is above-ground and on the eastbound side allows for a view of the Arsenal harbor basin. The walls on both sides are decorated with a 180m² ceramic tile fresco of scenes from the 1789 Revolution, created in 1989 for the bicentennial of the Revolution.

Below the platform, the Canal Saint Martin ends in the Arsenal harbor basin which in turn connects with the Seine east of Saint Louis island.

The station was opened in July 1900 as part of the first section of line 1 which ran from Porte de Vincennes (east) to Porte Maillot (west). It was built above the canal in order to avoid the foundations of the July column which dominates the Place de la Bastille.

Bastille was the last station on line 1 to have automatic doors installed as line 1 was automatized due to the difficulty of the curved shape of the platform.