Paris · Founded 1793
The Louvre Museum
Eight centuries of history and thousands of years of human creativity, gathered beneath one palace roof.
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From fortress to world museum
The story of the Louvre is the story of France itself: a stronghold, a royal residence, and finally a temple of art open to all.
1190
A medieval fortress
King Philip II Augustus builds a fortress on the right bank of the Seine to defend Paris against invasion. Its round keep, the Grosse Tour, stands where the Cour Carrée is today.
1546
A royal palace
Francis I orders the old keep demolished and commissions architect Pierre Lescot to raise a Renaissance palace. He also brings Leonardo’s Mona Lisa into the royal collection.
1793
A museum for the people
Amid the French Revolution, the Louvre opens as the Muséum central des arts, placing the royal collections before the public for the first time.
1804
Napoleon’s Louvre
Napoleon I enriches the museum with masterpieces from across Europe and renames it the Musée Napoléon. Later, Napoleon III completes the great connecting wings.
1989
The glass pyramid
The Grand Louvre renovation culminates in I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, a luminous new entrance that unites the historic palace with modern design.
Today
The world’s most visited
The Louvre is the most-visited art museum on earth, sheltering some 500,000 works across eight curatorial departments.
