At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the royal residence was on the Île de la Cité. Between 1190 and 1202, King Philip II built the massive fortress of the Louvre, which was designed to protect the Right Bank against an English attack from Normandy. The fortified castle was a great rectangle of 72 by 78 metres, with four towers, and surrounded by a moat. In the centre was a circular tower thirty meters high. The foundations can be seen today in the basement of the Louvre Museum.